- VA Announces Expansion of "Close to Me" Cancer Program as Part of the Cancer Moonshot, Bringing Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment Closer to Thousands of Veterans
- Biden-Harris Administration Releases National Strategy for Suicide Prevention and First-Ever Federal Action Plan
- Biden-Harris Administration Takes Historic Action to Increase Access to Quality Care, and Support to Families and Care Workers
- Biden Administration Sets Higher Staffing Mandates. Most Nursing Homes Don't Meet Them.
- Rural Jails Turn to Community Health Workers To Help the Newly Released Succeed
- Rural Communities Face Primary Care Physician Shortage
- Miles for Milk: How Student-Run Grocery Store Reshaped Rural Community's Food Access
- Native Americans Have Shorter Life Spans, and It's Not Just Due to Lack of Health Care
- Promotoras Play Essential Role in Connecting Farmworkers with Health Care in Rural NorCal
- Across the Country, Amish Populations Are on the Rise
- Using Medicaid to Address Young People's Mental Health Needs in School Settings
- Sunsets, Wildlife and Limited Care: Challenges of Aging in Place in Rural America
- City-Country Mortality Gap Widens amid Persistent Holes in Rural Health Care Access
- Tribal Environmental Impact Network
- Minnesota's Rural Ambulance Providers Look to State Capitol for Their Own Lifeline
Rural Pennsylvania: Building Healthier Communities for the People Who Power America
By Bob Morgan, Pennsylvania State Director USDA Rural Development
As we celebrate National Rural Health Day this year, we are reminded that a strong community is rooted in its people. The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to serving those who live in the rural areas of this country, like the small towns and communities right here in Pennsylvania.
At the United States Department of Agriculture, we are hard at work offering the resources to the rural and agricultural communities that feed and fuel our nation and provide the everyday essentials upon which America depends.
As I’ve traveled across Pennsylvania, I’ve seen firsthand the unique challenges people in rural communities and remote parts of the state have in accessing the health resources they need and deserve.
“More than 130 rural hospitals have closed over the past decade, and over 600 additional rural hospitals — more than 30% of all rural hospitals in the country — are at risk of closing in the near future,” according to a report from the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform.
It is part of my job to see what we can do as an agency to address problems such as this.
At USDA Rural Development, we are committed to making sure that people, no matter where they live, have access to high-quality and reliable health care services like urgent care, primary care, and dental care. That’s why I’ve been a proud champion of programs like the Emergency Rural Health Care Grants, created by President Biden’s historic legislative package, the American Rescue Plan Act.
In the past year, this program has helped rural health care organizations across the commonwealth purchase supplies, deliver food assistance, renovate health care facilities, and provide people with reliable medical testing and treatment.
These funds are helping save lives every day. For example, in April of this year, USDA awarded 18 Pennsylvania healthcare organizations a total of $10.5 million through our Emergency Rural Health Care Grant program. In Pittston, Pa., the ambulance service association received $226,000 of these funds for necessary lifesaving equipment such as heart monitors, automatic CPR machines, and loading devices for the ambulances.
On a larger scale, on Nov. 21, 2021, USDA partnered with St. Luke’s Health Network to open the first hospital in Carbon County in 65 years. The trauma-4 facility treated 17,324 emergency care patients thus far this year, thanks to a $98.5 million Community Facilities direct USDA loan investment for the project and a $16 million guaranteed loan.
Local healthcare officials said they are confident the three-story, 80-patient-room, 160,000-square-foot facility, has redefined health care access, convenience, and quality in northeastern Pennsylvania. Again, we are committed to saving lives and improving quality of life in our local rural communities.
We also know that increasing access to telemedicine and distance learning in rural Pennsylvania is critical to building healthier and more resilient communities.
People in remote parts of the state often need to travel greater distances to see a health care provider, are less likely to have access to high-speed internet to utilize telehealth services and are more likely to live in an area that has a shortage of doctors, dentists, and mental health providers.
Through programs like the Distance Learning and Telemedicine Grants Program, we are making it easier for people living in rural areas to access health care services remotely. In 2022, Rural Development funded three DLT projects in Pennsylvania that impacted more than 80,000 people in central and western Pennsylvania. Our funding share for the three projects totaled more than $1 million.
Health is about much more than medical care. Access to modern, reliable water and wastewater infrastructure is a critical necessity for the health and well-being of every American.
In Pennsylvania, we continue to work hand-in-hand with our partners and local community leaders to promote a healthy community and environment through our Water and Environmental Programs.
These programs help rural communities obtain the technical assistance and capital financing necessary to develop clean and reliable drinking water and waste disposal systems. Safe drinking water and sanitary waste disposal systems are vital not only to public health, but also to the economic vitality of rural America.
Through these programs, we make sure people, children and families across the state have clean water and safe sewer systems that prevent pollution and runoff.
For example, in March the South Wayne Water and Sewer Authority received a Water and Waste Disposal Loan and Grant of $14,879,000 to upgrade their wastewater treatment plant for their public sewer system. The plant currently serves residential communities located in Salem and Lake Townships, Pa. The plant is more than 40 years old, and the components have reached the end of their useful life.
USDA Rural Development is a partner who invests in keeping rural people healthy. Join us this National Rural Health Day, Thursday, Nov. 17 as we celebrate the power of rural. You can learn more about our programs by visiting our website or by calling 717-237-2153.
Federal Policy & Telehealth: What to be Aware of Going Forward.
The HRSA-supported Center for Connected Health Policy recorded its October 2022 webinar describing the telehealth policy landscape following the COVID-19 pandemic – including new and ongoing policy flexibilities, Medicare telehealth, and recent research initiatives.
The Rural Emergency Preparedness and Response Toolkit is Launched.
On November 14, the Rural Health Information Hub launches a new resource developed in collaboration with the NORC Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis with support from HRSA and the CDC. The evidence-based toolkit provides practical guidance for planning for, responding to, and recovering from disasters and emergencies. It also includes guidance and resources for different types of emergencies and considerations for special populations.
The Rural Health Clinic Program Reaches 45 Years.
An article in The Rural Monitor looks at the history of this program which now has more than 5,000 clinics across the country. For a more brief overview, the Rural Health Information Hub provides a short video about the challenges and victories of RHCs, from their origins in the Rural Health Clinic Services Act of 1977, and into the present, as they continue to provide an array of vital services to rural communities.
Person-Centered Innovation – An Update on the Implementation of the CMS Innovation Center’s Strategy.
This new report from the CMS Innovation Center provides an update on the Innovation Center’s progress in the implementation of its new strategy, describes areas of focus for the coming year, and begins the process of measuring progress against the strategy’s five objectives. This update includes a discussion of the Community Health Access and Rural Transformation (CHART Model). A companion supplemental document describes the rationale, methods, and limitations for each of the metrics, baselines, and targets described in this report. The supplemental document includes information on rural innovation models and the inclusion of safety-net providers like Rural Health Clinics (RHCs).
Racial Disparities in Maternal and Infant Health Read About the Current Status and Efforts to Address Them.
A new paper from the Kaiser Family Foundation reports on data showing large disparities in maternal and infant health, the factors contributing to these disparities, and recent efforts to reduce them. Despite continued advancements in medical care, maternal and infant mortality rates in the U.S. are far higher than those in similarly large and wealthy countries, and disparities for people of color have only widened over time. The brief identifies women who are Black, American Indian/Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, and Other Pacific Islanders as those suffering consistently high rates of mortality with outcomes that worsened during the pandemic. Differences in health insurance coverage and access to care are known factors driving disparities. Less understood, but getting increased attention are significantly higher rates of mistreatment, such as shouting and scolding, and ignoring or refusing requests for help. Current federal efforts include expanded access to Medicaid coverage during the postpartum period and a $350 million investment through HRSA’s Maternal and Child Health Bureau.
Video, Telephone, and In-Person Buprenorphine Treatment for OUD During the Pandemic.
A study of 17,182 patients from the Veterans Health Administration sought to determine if patient characteristics – age, race/ethnicity, comorbidities, housing status – made a difference in the effectiveness of telehealth-delivered buprenorphine for opioid use disorder (OUD). Effectiveness was determined by 90-day retention; three different telehealth modalities were examined, with each patient receiving at least one video visit, at least one telephone visit but no video, or only in-person. The study was conducted from March 23, 2020, to March 22, 2021, when policy shifted to allow greater use of telehealth to deliver a potentially lifesaving medication for OUD. Results showed significantly higher retention for patients using telehealth versus in-person visits, with higher retention observed in those with video visits. But patient characteristics made a difference in the type of telehealth used, and subsequently their retention in treatment. Among patients who received telehealth, those who were older, male, Black, non–service-connected, or experiencing homelessness and/or housing instability were less likely to have video visits.
CDC Updates Guidelines for Prescribing Opioids
In their new 2022 Clinical Practice Guideline, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides updated evidence and research on the risks and benefits of prescription opioids for acute, subacute, and chronic pain. These include dosing strategies, tapering and discontinuation, comparisons with nonopioid pain treatments, and risk mitigation strategies. At 100 pages long, the guideline goes into some detail about the social, economic, and policy factors contributing to high rates of overdose death in rural areas, indicating that an integral part of effective pain treatment is understanding how social determinants of health influence the care provided to patients and the outcomes they experience.
Spread the Word About Health Insurance: Rural Week of Action
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has a collection of tools for helping individuals and families get health insurance during the Marketplace Open Enrollment period, November 1, 2022, through January 15, 2023. Graphics, social media messages, and customizable posters and fact sheets, are available in English, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese. There are toolkits for specific audiences – e.g., Latino, Black, Asian, and Indigenous – that will be promoted each week until December 3. Next week is the Rural Week of Action.
HRSA Celebrates National Rural Health Day this Week
Celebrate National Rural Health Day — November 14-18. Click to find details and register for events happening each day of the week:
- Monday – Mindfulness-Based Stress Mitigation in the Workplace
- Tuesday – Addressing Intimate Partner Violence and Human Trafficking
- Wednesday – FORHP Grantee Stories
- Thursday – HHS Leadership Panel on official National Rural Health Day
See the Events section below for additional NRHD events held by our partners and stakeholders.