Rural healthcare will be transformed by artificial intelligence, said Robert F. Kennedy Jr., secretary of health and human services, during a visit to Danville on Monday.
Kennedy’s trip included two stops in Southside: a substance use disorder rehabilitation facility in Chatham and the Virginia Tech controlled environment agriculture research center in Danville.
Rep. John McGuire, the Republican congressman who represents the 5th District, hosted Kennedy on a tour of the district.
At a media conference afterward, Kennedy said that federal funding will increase access to rural healthcare through telehealth and AI.
“President Trump has done more to revitalize America’s rural economies and rural healthcare than any other president,” he said. “The Rural Health Transformation Program is the biggest investment in rural economies that we’ve ever seen in our country.”
The federal initiative will distribute $50 billion across the country over a five-year span to improve rural healthcare.
The program was meant to offset cuts made by the Trump administration to Medicaid and other health services, particularly in rural areas where hospitals and clinics depend on federal funding. But the money can’t be used to replace reimbursement from Medicaid or other insurance providers.
The program drew a lot of concerns, including the possible closings of rural hospitals, maternal health deserts, limited dental access, workforce shortages and the spread of treatable diseases such as hepatitis C.
Kennedy said the funding will contribute to the use of AI among healthcare providers, which he called especially important in rural areas.
“With new AI systems, all the paperwork is done and a doctor spends his time seeing patients,” Kennedy said. “We’re supporting AI nurses that are available 24 hours a day. They have your full medical records. … They can take your blood pressure, your vital signs, and give you advice to keep you from having to go to the emergency room.”
According to a 2026 survey by the American Medical Association, about 81% of physicians report using AI. It’s used for tasks like searching medical research, triaging and communicating with patients, documenting visits and generating discharge instructions.
The increases in efficiency are coupled with caution about data security, patient privacy and the changing role of human professionals in healthcare.
Kennedy said that his agency has “done more to drive AI” than any other agency of the government, “with the possible exception of the CIA, but nobody really knows what they’re doing.”
The most significant impact of AI in healthcare will be in rural America, he said.
Kennedy, who grew up in McLean and went to the University of Virginia School of Law, said that Virginia, and especially its rural areas, have a special place in his heart.
Kennedy is the nephew of former Ppresident John F. Kennedy and the son of his attorney general, Robert F. Kennedy. He is also known as an environmental lawyer, author and anti-vaccine activist.
He has been a controversial figure since becoming a cabinet secretary in the second Trump administration in 2025 due to his public skepticism of vaccine efficacy, updates to the federal nutrition policy, cancellation of funding for scientific research, and mass layoffs to the health and human services workforce.
