- Weathering the Storm Together: Community Resiliency Hubs Hold the Promise of Local Self-Sufficiency and Supportive Mutual Aid
- Virginia Tech Researchers Bring Rural Families into the Nation's Largest Study of Early Brain and Child Development
- Expanding Access to Cancer Care for Rural Veterans
- VA: Veterans Rural Health Advisory Committee, Notice of Meeting
- Scaling Rural Wellness with Clever Collaboration
- Stroudwater Associates Enhances Rural Healthcare Dashboard with New Data to Support State Rural Transformation Grant Applications
- Harvest Season Is Here: Busy Times Call for Increased Focus on Safety and Health
- HHS Dispatches More Than 70 Public Health Service Officers to Strengthen Care in Tribal Communities
- Wisconsin Rural Hospitals Team up to Form Network
- CMS Launches Landmark $50 Billion Rural Health Transformation Program
- American Heart Association Provides Blood Pressure Kits at Southeast Arkansas Regional Libraries to Support Rural Health
- Broadening Access to Minimally Invasive Surgery Could Narrow Rural-Urban Health Gaps
- Instead of Selling, Some Rural Hospitals Band Together To Survive
- Help Line Gives Pediatricians Crucial Mental Health Information to Help Kids, Families
- Rural Health: A Strategic Opportunity for Governors
Bipartisan Nurse Education Bill Advances Through Pennsylvania Committee
The Pennsylvania Senate Institutional Sustainability & Innovation Committee unanimously passed Senate Bill 998.
Senator Maria Collett’s bipartisan legislation with Senator Rosemary Brown tackles Pennsylvania’s nursing workforce shortage by increasing nurse education capacity at accredited nursing schools in the commonwealth.
American Dental Association Provides Medicaid Financial Sustainability Toolkit
The American Dental Association (ADA) is dedicated to making improvements to Medicaid access and prepared this toolkit to support dentists who participate in Medicaid.
This document offers policy-grounded guidance and operational strategies to help practices deliver high-quality care while maintaining financial viability. It aligns with ADA advocacy priorities to reduce administrative burdens, improve reimbursement rates, and enhance program design so that participation is financially and professionally suitable for all dentists and beneficial for all beneficiaries.
White House Clarifies H-1B Proclamation
The White House confirmed that the $100,000 fee associated with H-1B visa petitions applies only to new applicants outside the U.S.
Employers are not required to pay the fee for individuals already residing in the U.S. who have previously issued and valid H-1B visas or those submitted before September 21.
Read more about the clarification.
SNAP Workforce Requirements Begin January 1 2026
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Work Requirements went into effect on September 1. Work requirements require that many adults now need to work 20 hours per week to keep their benefits. These rules do not apply to thse who meet an exemption.
Community Legal Services of Philadelphia (CLS) has created a digital toolkit to help consumers and advocates understand the new rules.
AAPD and ADA Respond to FDA Recommendation Against Fluoride Supplements
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced its recommendation against the use of fluoride supplements for children under age three or any child at low or moderate risk for tooth decay.
Both the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD) and American Dental Association (ADA) released statements in response. Thanks to the AAPD for this clarification: “The FDA does not have regulatory authority over traditional supplements, like multivitamins. These types of products containing fluoride will remain available.”
Click here to read the AAPD statement.
Click here to read the ADA statement.
Pennsylvania’s St. Luke’s University Health System to Boost Rural Health Care with $1.94M Federal Grant
A federal grant will help St. Luke’s University Health Network expand care for medically underserved populations in Pennsylvania’s rural Carbon and Schuylkill counties.
St. Luke’s said in a release that it plans to use the $1.94 million, 5-year grant from the Primary Care Training and Enhancement Residency Training in Street Medicine initiative to develop a Street Medicine Academic Tract within its Carbon (Rural) Family Medicine Residency program.
The grant will help St. Luke’s enhance rural family medicine residency training, equipping residents to care to individuals facing homelessness and opioid addiction.
“Meeting patients where they are takes special training and skills to help reduce barriers to healthcare,” said Danielle Godfrey, St. Luke’s manager for Graduate Medical Education Rural Programs. “Our rural family medicine residents will learn how to best provide primary and preventative care in places like rural shelters, food pantries, in mobile outreach units and in other community settings that are often underserved.”
She said in such counties, there’s an under-appreciated need, and there are more and more individuals experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity.
St. Lukes’s Carbon (Rural) Family Medicine Residency program already features some street-medicine training, but the grant will allow it to develop a full Street Medicine Academic Tract.
Residents will participate in structured clinical rotations that include telemedicine plus working in shelters and mobile-outreach units. They will also receive expanded behavioral health and addiction medicine training.
The grant will also allow St. Luke’s to establish Medical-Legal Partnerships (MLPs). The MLPs will train residents in legal advocacy and help patients secure Medicaid, disability benefits, and housing stability services.
About 100 organizations applied for the grant. St. Luke’s was one of 24 to receive funding.
The Primary Care Training and Enhancement Residency Training program is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award totaling $1,946,253 with 100 percent funded by HRSA/HHS. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by HRSA/HHS, or the U.S. Government. For more information, please visit https://www.hrsa.gov/.