Gov. Josh Stein is steering $10 million toward 39 rural emergency medical services agencies, a cash infusion that state officials say is meant to keep more care close to home and give overworked crews some backup. The money, part of North Carolina’s Rural Health Transformation effort, will go to expand Mobile Integrated Health programs so EMS teams can offer training, telehealth and medication-assisted treatment as follow-up care after 911 calls, instead of just dropping patients at the nearest hospital and racing to the next emergency.
What officials said
In a press release, the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services said the funds, which were awarded by the Office of Emergency Medical Services for Mobile Integrated Health, will "strengthen the EMS workforce and expand rural communities’ access to mental health and substance use disorder treatment and services," according to NCDHHS. Governor Stein is quoted in the release saying, "Every North Carolinian deserves access to safe, affordable, quality health care, no matter where they live." State officials said the grants are also intended to cut down on preventable overdoses by paying for rapid follow-up care and access to MOUD (medication for opioid use disorder).
Federal program behind the money
The awards come out of the federal Rural Health Transformation Program, a multi-year, $50 billion initiative. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said it provided roughly $213 million to North Carolina in the program's first year. CMS designed the RHTP to help states boost primary care, telehealth, workforce supports and rural emergency services such as EMS, according to the agency’s announcement.
Who will benefit
NCDHHS released a list of 39 recipients that stretches across the state. Counties named in the announcement include Nash, Franklin, Orange and Person, along with regional efforts such as Cape Fear Valley Mobile Integrated Health, according to NCDHHS. The grants are open to licensed primary 911 EMS agencies that serve rural or rural-adjacent communities.
On the ground
Local EMS leaders say the money has been a long time coming. Nash County EMS handled roughly 30,000 calls in 2025, and Travis Green, a deputy director with Nash County EMS, told CBS17 the funding there will go toward training, overdose follow-up and staffing. Smaller counties and volunteer outfits say their slice of the pot could finally pay for telehealth equipment, peer-support specialists and mobile units that have been sitting on the wish list.
How agencies can spend the grants
Guidance from the NC Office of EMS lays out a shopping list of eligible expenses: personnel such as peer support workers and behavioral-health clinicians, MOUD medication and clinical protocols, mobile crisis units, telehealth platforms and documentation systems. The webinar materials estimate first-year awards between $50,000 and $300,000 and cap administrative costs at 10%, with all dollars paid out on a reimbursement basis, according to the NC Office of EMS.
Timeline and reporting
The same materials make it clear this is not a slow-roll project. Applicants "must demonstrate ability to initiate services within 90–180 days of contract execution," the webinar slides state. Agencies that get funded will have to file regular reports and detailed documentation to receive reimbursements, which officials say will help track whether the spending actually turns into better access and fewer overdoses.
State leaders are calling these grants an early move in a broader plan to reshape rural health care using federal RHTP dollars. Community groups and county officials will be watching over the summer as these Mobile Integrated Health plans leave the planning table and start showing up in patients’ driveways.
