- Rural America Faces Growing Shortage of Eye Surgeons
- NRHA Continues Partnership to Advance Rural Oral Health
- Comments Requested on Mobile Crisis Team Services: An Implementation Toolkit Draft
- Q&A: What Are the Challenges and Opportunities of Small-Town Philanthropy?
- HRSA Administrator Carole Johnson, Joined by Co-Chair of the Congressional Black Maternal Health Caucus Congresswoman Lauren Underwood, Announces New Funding, Policy Action, and Report to Mark Landmark Year of HRSA's Enhancing Maternal Health Initiative
- Biden-Harris Administration Announces $60 Million Investment for Adding Early Morning, Night, and Weekend Hours at Community Health Centers
- Volunteer Opportunity for HUD's Office of Housing Counseling Tribe and TDHE Certification Exam
- Who Needs Dry January More: Rural or Urban Drinkers?
- Rural Families Have 'Critical' Need for More Hospice, Respite Care
- States Help Child Care Centers Expand in Bid To Create More Slots, Lower Prices
- Rural Telehealth Sees More Policy Wins, but Only Short-Term
- Healing a Dark Past: The Long Road To Reopening Hospitals in the Rural South
- Study: Obstetrics Units in Rural Communities Declining
- Q&A: Angela Gonzales (Hopi), on New Indigenous Health Research Dashboard
- Not All Expectant Moms Can Reach a Doctor's Office. This Kentucky Clinic Travels to Them.
Federal Court Blocks FTC’s Non-Compete Ban Nationally
A Texas Federal judge issued a decision blocking the FTC’s proposed ban on non-compete agreements, which was set to go into effect on Sept. 4, 2024. As previously reported, the Texas Federal Court had issued a preliminary injunction limiting the enforceability of the FTC’s non-compete ban for the individual plaintiff in that lawsuit only. The judge has now expanded that ruling nationally – preventing the FTC non-compete ban from going into effect. The court found that the FTC improperly exceeded its authority by creating a new rule banning non-compete agreements. The court found that the “sweeping” rule is a “categorical ban” that is impermissible, holding: “In sum, the Court concludes that the FTC lacks statutory authority to promulgate the Non-Compete Rule, and that the Rule is arbitrary and capricious. Thus, the FTC’s promulgation of the Rule is an unlawful agency action.” This will not impact the new Pennsylvania state law on non-competes within health care.
Pennsylvania Governor’s Administration Announces New Workforce Investment of More Than $4M
An investment of over $4 million in Industry Partnership grant funding to strengthen workforce development projects has been made by the Shapiro Administration. Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry Secretary Nancy Walker announced the investment on Monday. Along with strengthening the state’s workforce, the investment is designed to boost industry partnerships across Pennsylvania by encouraging businesses to collaborate across sectors to recruit, train, and retain workers in high-demand fields like IT, robotics, healthcare, and agriculture. Local workforce development boards, non-profit and non-governmental organizations, community-based organizations, educational and post-secondary educational organizations, labor organizations, business associations, and economic development entities are all eligible applicants.
Pennsylvania Democratic Lawmakers Announce Legislation to Protect Key ACA Provision
A group of Democratic lawmakers are proposing to enshrine a key component of the Affordable Care Act into state law in order to protect it in the event the ACA is ever overturned or rolled back by the federal government. Reps. Eddie Day Pashinski (D-Luzerne), Tarik Khan (D-Philadelphia), and Dan Frankel (D-Allegheny) say their proposed legislation would require that family insurance coverage allow adult children to remain on their parents’ health coverage until they turn 26. “While current Pennsylvania law allows employers to cover an employee’s adult children until age 30, not many employers take advantage of this option. Thus, if the Affordable Care Act is ever struck down, many adult children will lose their health insurance coverage, and we may see another market spiral,” according to the cosponsor memo they released last week. “That is unacceptable and can be prevented by incorporating this key Affordable Care Act protection into state law.”
Crest and Oral-B Accepting Nominations for Promising Researcher Award
The Crest and Oral-B Promising Research Award promotes and recognizes excellence in oral health research. This annual award provides $5,000 to a promising researcher focused on preventive dentistry. Candidates must be enrolled in one of the following degree programs at an eligible institution: D.D.S., D.M.D., Ph.D. or equivalent, M.P.H., M.S., Advanced Dental Degree, or foreign-equivalent. The application deadline is September 16.
National Pediatric Academy Releases Oral Health Report on Identifying Abuse and Neglect
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) published a new clinical report, “Oral and Dental Aspects of Child Abuse and Neglect.” The report contains updated recommendations for physicians on how to identify problems involving a child’s teeth, gums, and mouth that may be signs of physical or sexual abuse or neglect.
57% of Rural Hospitals Lack Maternity Care: 19 States with the Biggest Gaps
From Becker’s Hospital Review
In the past five years, over 100 rural hospitals have stopped delivering babies, contributing to the 57% of rural U.S. hospitals that lack labor and delivery services.
This finding comes from the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform. Its July report details the number of rural hospitals by state that lack maternity care services, those that do offer such services, the financial losses incurred from maternity care and the travel time to the nearest hospital providing OB services.
“Over 80% of pregnancy-related deaths are preventable with appropriate prenatal, labor & delivery, and post-partum care,” the CHQPR report notes. “Although improvements in maternity care are needed in all parts of the country to reduce mortality rates, one of the greatest challenges is in rural areas, because most rural hospitals are no longer providing maternity care at all.”
Of the 978 rural hospitals that offer labor & delivery services, almost 40% lost money on patient services overall in 2022 through 2023, meaning their ability to continue delivering maternity care is at risk.
Below are the 19 states with the highest percentage of rural hospitals lacking OB or maternity care. In each of these states, the percentage of rural hospitals without OB care exceeds the U.S. average of 57%. There are ties below, resulting in 19 states with 12 rankings for the greatest proportion of hospitals without OB care.
Readers can find CHQPR’s report on maternity care deserts among rural hospitals in full here.
1. Florida
Total rural hospitals: 22
Number without OB services: 20
Percentage without OB services: 91%
2. North Dakota
Total rural hospitals: 39
Number without OB services: 31
Percentage without OB services: 79%
3. Louisiana
Total rural hospitals: 56
Number without OB services: 42
Percentage without OB services: 75%
4. Illinois
Total rural hospitals: 74
Number without OB services: 55
Percentage without OB services: 74%
West Virginia
Total rural hospitals: 31
Number without OB services: 23
Percentage without OB services: 74%
5. Nevada
Total rural hospitals: 14
Number without OB services: 10
Percentage without OB services: 71%
6. Virginia
Total rural hospitals: 30
Number without OB services: 21
Percentage without OB services: 70%
7. Alabama
Total rural hospitals: 52
Number without OB services: 36
Percentage without OB services: 69%
Oklahoma
Total rural hospitals: 81
Number without OB services: 56
Percentage without OB services: 69%
8. Mississippi
Total rural hospitals: 72
Number without OB services: 49
Percentage without OB services: 68%
9. Arkansas
Total rural hospitals: 50
Number without OB services: 32
Percentage without OB services: 64%
Georgia
Total rural hospitals: 72
Number without OB services: 46
Percentage without OB services: 64%
Montana
Total rural hospitals: 55
Number without OB services: 35
Percentage without OB services: 64%
10. South Dakota
Total rural hospitals: 49
Number without OB services: 31
Percentage without OB services: 63%
Pennsylvania
Total rural hospitals: 43
Number without OB services: 27
Percentage without OB services: 63%
11. Iowa
Total rural hospitals: 94
Number without OB services: 58
Percentage without OB services: 62%
12. Texas
Total rural hospitals: 164
Number without OB services: 97
Percentage without OB services: 59%
Kansas
Total rural hospitals: 100
Number without OB services: 59
Percentage without OB services: 59%
California
Total rural hospitals: 58
Number without OB services: 34
Percentage without OB services: 59%
Rural Graduate Medical Education (GME) Opportunities – How can your RHC get involved?
– Thursday, August 29 at 2:00 pm Eastern. The National Association of Rural Health Clinics (NARHC), in partnership with the Collaborative for Rural Graduate Medical Education Technical Assistance Centers, will host the free, FORHP-supported webinar. Rural Training Track medical students completing rural rotations were more than twice as likely to practice in rural areas than general family medicine graduates. RHCs can play a critical role in that training through their ability to serve as rotational sites for many different providers. This webinar will feature Pennsylvania Rural Health Clinic and Rural Residency Planning and Development grantee, St. Luke’s Miners who will discuss their experience with GME and RHC site
Exploring Housing Challenges and Opportunities for Rural Residency Development
Researchers from the Rural Residency Planning and Development Technical Assistance Center (RuralGME.org), explore challenges, strategic approaches, potential opportunities, and capital funding for rural residency programs to ensure access to safe, secure, affordable, and good-quality housing that is convenient to the workplace. As the number and size rural residency programs continue to grow across the country, housing has not kept pace.
Recruitment of Residents to Rural Programs: Early Outcomes from Cohort 1 of the Rural Residency Planning and Development Grants Program
In this study, published in the Journal of Graduate Medical Education, authors from the Rural Residency Planning and Development Technical Assistance Center (RuralGME.org) explore early resident recruitment outcomes of HRSA’s Rural Residency Planning and Development (RRPD) grants program. The study concluded that the early resident recruitment outcomes represented sufficient success to support the program’s continuation.
Targeted Technical Assistance for Rural Hospitals Program
– Apply by September 30. Applications are being accepted to receive two years of technical assistance through this FORHP-supported program for rural hospitals facing financial and operational challenges that affect their viability. Technical assistance for this project is provided by the Center for Public Health Practice and Research at the Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health, Georgia Southern University, and will begin in November 2024.