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OUR WORKS


Initiatives


The ROOTS Hub supports six major initiatives designed to transform how healthcare and social services work together across Region 3. Click any initiative to learn more about goals, partners, and how to get involved.

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OUR WORKS


Initiatives


The ROOTS Hub supports six major initiatives designed to transform how healthcare and social services work together across Region 3. Click any initiative to learn more about goals, partners, and how to get involved.


Community-Rooted Care Networks

Setting up the ROOTS Hub and the plan that guides our work.

Community-Rooted Care Networks

This is where everything starts. Before new programs begin, we build the foundation: a group of local partners, a clear look at what each community needs, and a plan to meet those needs. In the first few months, Vaya Partners will study health needs across all 12 counties, looking at what care is already here and where the gaps are. That study guides our Hub Action Plan, a roadmap we update as we go. We will also bring partners on board, set up how funding is shared, and make sure community members have a say in the work. Our role: Vaya Partners leads this part directly. It is the backbone that holds the rest of the work together.

Prevention and Chronic Disease Management

Improving programs to control chronic illnesses, boost maternal health, and help people access healthy food.

Prevention and Chronic Disease Management

Many people in rural communities have to travel far for care, and healthy options can be hard to find. This part of our work helps close those gaps in three ways. Pregnancy and new mothers: We work to expand care for pregnant women in areas with few options and help new mothers know the warning signs to watch for after giving birth. Ongoing health conditions: We help providers do more to prevent and manage conditions like diabetes, high blood pressure, and cancer, and we add team members like community health workers who help people stay on track. Healthy food: We build local ways for people to get healthy food, working with food banks, farmers, and mobile markets to connect people to food support. Our role: Vaya Partners finds where the needs are greatest, funds local partners to do the work, and tracks whether things are getting better.

Behavioral Health Expansion

Growing mental health and substance use services.

Behavioral Health Expansion

Getting mental health and substance use care in rural areas can be hard. There are fewer providers, and waits can be longer than in large cities. This part of our work helps people get connected to the support they need. The state is growing a network of clinics that offer therapy, counseling, crisis help, and more, all in one place. New programs will reach more rural areas, schools, and people in crisis. Our role: Vaya Partners doesn’t provide these services directly. Instead, we connect the dots — making sure people and providers know what help is out there and how to reach it, and that behavioral health is part of the bigger picture of whole-person care.

Workforce Development

Training and keeping more health workers in rural communities.

Workforce Development

Rural communities often have fewer doctors, nurses, and other health workers than urban areas. This part of our work helps train more of them and encourages them to stay and work in rural communities. Vaya Partners works with universities, community colleges, and rural hospitals to create local training programs, support new providers as they get started, and offer help like childcare so working in a rural area is easier. We also support roles beyond doctors and nurses, like community health workers, doulas, and EMS workers. Our role: Vaya Partners brings these programs together across the region and makes sure training leads to real jobs in the communities that need them.

Financial Sustainability

Helping rural hospitals and clinics stay open and stable.

Financial Sustainability

Many rural hospitals and clinics are under financial strain. This part of our work helps them plan ahead so they can keep their doors open and keep serving their communities. Vaya Partners supports studies that look at how rural hospitals are doing and what changes could help them stay strong. We also help providers get ready for new ways of being paid for care that reward keeping people healthy, and we’ll help our region take part in a state program planned for 2028. Our role: Vaya Partners manages these studies, shares funding with providers, and makes sure our region’s needs are heard as the state plans for the future.

Technology and Innovation

Helping providers use digital forward solutions to coordinate care.

Technology and Innovation

Technology can help people get care more easily, but only if providers know what tools are out there and how to use them. This part of our work helps make that happen. Our role: Vaya Partners doesn’t build or buy the technology – the state handles that. What we do is help local providers learn about the digital tools available, get connected to state programs, and get extra support if they’re just getting started. The goal is simple: help providers use technology in ways that make care easier to reach.

Stevens Amendment Disclosure: This [project/publication/program/website, etc.] is supported by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award totaling $213,008,356.47 with 100 percent funded by CMS/HHS. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by CMS/HHS, or the U.S. Government.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services manages the delivery of health- and human-related services for all North Carolinians, especially our most vulnerable people – children, elderly, disabled and low-income families. NCDHHS serves as the lead state agency for North Carolina’s Rural Health Transformation Program aimed at improving health care for rural North Carolinians and their communities.

Vaya Partners ROOTS Hub

Leading NC Region 3’s Rural Health Transformation Program. Supporting providers, organizations, and communities across western North Carolina.

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