Today Governor Josh Stein joined the groundbreaking ceremony for AdventHealth Weaverville's new hospital. The new hospital will create 1,300 jobs and make health care more affordable and accessible for people in Madison and Yancey Counties.
“Wherever people get sick in North Carolina, they deserve to be able to get to a good, nearby hospital,” said Governor Josh Stein. “This new hospital in Weaverville is an investment in the health and economic future of western North Carolina. It will create good-paying jobs, reduce transport times for first responders, and expand access to care for families across the region.”
This week marks the third anniversary since North Carolina passed Medicaid expansion, which has provided more than 720,000 North Carolinians, including 250,000 rural North Carolinians, with affordable health care. Governor Stein's Critical Needs Budget calls for the General Assembly to fully fund Medicaid and protect access to care for the families and communities that depend on it.
In December, Governor Stein and the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) secured $213 million from the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services through the Rural Health Transformation Program to improve health care access for the more than 3.5 million people living in rural communities. These funds will support more than 400 rural health care facilities and invest in strengthening the rural health care workforce through rural residency programs, incentives, and innovative career pathways.
Governor Stein has long been committed to ensuring affordable and accessible health care in western North Carolina. As Attorney General, he worked to ensure more ensure more competition among health care providers in the region to lower costs and improve quality of care. Earlier this month, Governor Stein kicked off his Rural Listening Session series, where he and cabinet secretaries are traveling across the state to meet with community leaders to hear their concerns and priorities for strengthening rural communities, including making health care more affordable and accessible.
Click here to learn more about upcoming Rural Listening Sessions.