2018 State Legislative Conference October 25 - 27 Ft. Lauderdale, FL

1. Collaborating for Better Rural Health
in North Carolina
Gregory K. Griggs, MPA, CAE
NCAFP Executive Vice President

2. The NC Rural Health Leadership Alliance
• A collaboration between organizations that work to
support partnerships and strategies to improve
health outcomes in rural NC.
• Numerous partners from the NC Rural Center, the
NC Office of Rural Health, the Foundation for
Health leadership and Innovation, the state AHEC
Program, the NCAFP and more
• Began informally in the 1990s; formalized in 2014.

3. Priority Areas / Work Groups
• Small business and rural economics
• Childcare and early education
• Healthy eating and active living
• Integration of primary care and behavioral health
care (NCAFP staff on this work group)
• Health insurance and safety net resources
• Workforce recruitment and retention (co-chaired by
NCAFP and Office of Rural Health)

4. Key Focus Areas of Workforce
• Preserve Medicaid GME Dollars – Almost lost $30
million of state funding
• Increase funding for Loan Repayment – Minor
successes
• Transparency Around Medicaid GME Funding
• Increase funding for health professional training in
rural areas.

5. Where We Stand
• WINS
• Study potential for new teaching hospitals – GME – H998
• Targeted changes to loan repayment programs – H 998
• UNC FIRST Program
• STILL AT WORK
• Greater loan repayment funding
• Transparency around GME
• Pilot payment model change for rural counties In Medicaid
and State Health Plan – DPC type payment
• Parity in Medicaid