House Bill 1090 would establish a fund for new buildings, repairs and renovations, or other healthcare infrastructure projects in rural NC counties. The money would be used for grants or loans at below-market rates. (Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images)
The NC legislature’s House Health Committee endorsed a plan for improving rural residents’ access to healthcare by establishing a fund that would help pay for new or renovated facilities in regions where hospitals are struggling and some have already shut their doors.
State legislators have discussed over the years making it easier for rural residents to obtain healthcare because many have to travel miles for routine office visits or hospital treatment.
House Bill 1090 would establish a fund for new buildings, repairs and renovations, or other healthcare infrastructure projects in rural counties. The money would be used for grants or loans at below-market rates. The bill also establishes a Rural Healthcare Infrastructure Council to administer the fund.
The new fund would get its start by taking over the assets of the Rural Health Care Stabilization Program, which was created in 2019 for Randolph Hospital. The stabilization program fund has a balance of a little more than $39 million.
Rural Healthcare Initiative, a nonprofit collective, published a healthcare blueprint for the state’s rural counties last year. It took an inventory of healthcare resources in the state’s 78 rural counties, analyzed where rural residents receive care, and developed a forecast for future demand.
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“That’s the blueprint that I’m hoping this fund and this council can address,” Rep. Timothy Reeder (R-Pitt), one of the bill’s lead sponsors, told the committee Tuesday.
According to the Cecil G. Sheps Center at UNC-Chapel Hill, a dozen rural hospitals in the state have closed since 2005.
“North Carolina owes a responsibility to its citizens in rural areas to have access to healthcare,” said Reeder, a medical doctor. “Unfortunately, across North Carolina in these rural areas, too many of our communities are suffering and dying for lack of healthcare infrastructure.”
Continued financing for rural hospital infrastructure could come from state government, the federal government, philanthropies, or economic development funds, Reeder said.
The new council would work with the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services on an annual plan. The General Assembly would need to approve the infrastructure plan before the council implements it.
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