Federal Budget Talks Bring Uncertain Future for Community Health Centers in W.Va.

On this West Virginia Morning, President Donald Trump addressed the opioid crisis affecting the Ohio Valley region in his first State of the Union address. The Ohio Valley ReSource’s Aaron Payne reports that while Trump mentioned expanding addiction treatment, he and his administration are emphasizing a law-and-order approach to the crisis in the second year of his presidency.

The Ohio Valley ReSource is made possible with support from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

There are 30 community health centers in West Virginia serving more than 400,000 people. Congress didn’t include funding in its latest continuing budget resolution, which means federal funding for those centers is about to run out. Appalachia Health News reporter Kara Lofton takes a look at what role community health centers play in West Virginia and what will happen if Congress doesn’t move to reauthorize funding soon.

Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting with support from Marshall Health, Charleston Area Medical Center and WVU Medicine.

On the latest episode of The Legislature Today, host Andrea Lannom chatted with West Virginia Division of Tourism Commissioner Chelsea Ruby. Governor Jim Justice has proposed to nearly triple the tourism budget, bringing the agency’s current $6 million-dollar budget to $20 million. Here’s an excerpt from that interview, filmed live from the Capitol.

West Virginia Morning is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting which is solely responsible for its content. Support for our news bureaus comes from West Virginia University, Concord University, and Shepherd University.

West Virginia Morning is produced with help from, Jessica Lilly, Kara Lofton, Liz McCormick, Molly Born, Dave Mistich and Roxy Todd. Our news director is Jesse Wright.

Our producer is Glynis Board.