- 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
- Using Medicaid to Address Young People's Mental Health Needs in School Settings
- Across the Country, Amish Populations Are on the Rise
- 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
- Biden-Harris Administration Takes Action to Support the Primary Care Workforce
Disability Advocacy Network Releases Local Master Plan for Aging
A report from the nonprofit Diversability Advocacy Network summarizes findings from a needs assessment for older adults and people with disabilities. Each of these counties, located in central California, has a significant portion that is rural, a poverty rate above 17 percent, and a demographic mix that includes Tribal, Asian, Hispanic, and Black communities.
American Farm Bureau Presents Farm State of Mind Campaign
The American Farm Bureau created a national resource directory with on-demand training, research, helpful tips, and opioid-related information for farm and ranch families. According to the National Rural Health Association, farmers are 3.5 times more likely to die by suicide than the general population.
Telehealth in Action: Digital Navigators Connect Patients to Care
Digital navigators teach people how to use telehealth and technology. Learn about how one of the HRSA-funded Telehealth Resource Centers created a class for digital navigators to help connect patients to care.
Information Session Offered on CMS Interoperability and Prior Authorization Final Rule
Tuesday, March 26 at 1:00 pm Eastern
In January, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released a final rule to enhance access to health information and streamline prior authorization processes for medical items and services. CMS’s Office of Burden Reduction & Health Informatics is hosting an online session to educate patients, providers, and administrative, health IT, and government affairs professionals about the provisions in final rule and how it builds on current CMS interoperability policies. Questions can be submitted beforehand via the registration form. If you register and receive a message that the event is full, you will receive an email after the event with a link to both a recording and transcript of the presentation. The use of various electronic exchange methods among hospitals and physicians has increased in recent years, but use among small and rural hospitals is lower than that of other hospitals. Please reach out to CMSInteroperability@cms.hhs.gov with questions.
36 Rural Hospitals Have Closed Since 2020
From Becker’s Hospital CFO Report
Jellico (Tenn.) Regional Hospital, a 25-bed critical access facility, closed March 9, making it the 36th rural hospital to shutter or no longer provide inpatient services since 2020, according to data compiled by the University of North Carolina’s Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research.
The closures highlight the heightened financial challenges that rural hospitals face amid persisting workforce shortages, rising costs and leveling reimbursement. In addition, only 45% of rural hospitals now offer labor and delivery services, and in 10 states, less than 33% do, according to the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform.
Below are the 36 rural hospitals that closed since 2020, beginning with the most recent.
Editor’s note: Facilities with an asterisk (*) signify converted closures (facilities that no longer provide inpatient services, but continue to provide some services, such as primary care, skilled nursing care or long-term care).
- Jellico (Tenn.) Regional Hospital
- St. Mark’s Medical Center (La Grange, Texas)
- Herington (Kan.) Hospital
- Spectrum Health Kelsey Hospital (Lakeview, Mich.)
- Indiana University Health Blackford Hospital (Hartford City, Ind.)*
- Martin General Hospital (Williamston, N.C.)
- Patients Choice Medical Center of Smith County (Raleigh, Miss.)
- St. Margaret’s Health-Spring Valley (Ill.)
- UPMC Lock Haven (Pa.)*
- St. Margaret’s Health-Peru (Ill.) (OSF Healthcare expected to reopen the hospital this spring)
- Ascension St. Vincent Dunn (Bedford, Ind.)
- Blessing Health Keokuk (Iowa)
- Audrain Community Hospital (Mexico, Mo.)
- Callaway Community Hospital (Fulton, Mo.)
- Acoma-Canoncito-Laguna Service Unit (Acoma, N.M.)*
- Galesburg (Ill.) Cottage Hospital*
- MercyOne Oakland Medical Center (Oakland, Neb.)*
- Community HealthCare System-St. Marys (Kan.)*
- Perry Community Hospital (Linden, Tenn.)
- Northridge Medical Center (Commerce, Ga.)*
- Southwest Georgia Regional Medical Center (Cuthbert, Ga.)
- Shands Lake Shore Regional Medical Center (Lake City, Fla.)
- Cumberland River Hospital (Celina, Tenn.)
- Bluefield (W.Va.) Regional Medical Center*
- Saint Luke’s Cushing Hospital (Leavenworth, Kan.)*
- Shands Live Oak (Fla.) Regional Medical Center*
- Shands Starke (Fla.) Regional Medical Center*
- Williamson (W.V.a) Memorial Hospital*
- Decatur County General Hospital (Parsons, Tenn.)
- Sumner Community Hospital (Wellington, Kan.)
- Edward W. McCready Memorial Hospital (Crisfield, Md.)*
- Mayo Clinic Health System-Springfield (Minn.)*
- Central Hospital of Bowie (Texas)*
- UPMC Susquehanna Sunbury (Pa.)*
- Mountain View Regional Hospital (Norton, Va.)*
- Pinnacle Regional Hospital (Boonville, Mo.)
Report to Congress from the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission Evaluating FFS Payments
A report to Congress from the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) evaluates Medicare’s fee-for-service payments to providers, the Medicare Advantage and the Part D Prescription Drug Program, special needs plans for beneficiaries who are dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid, and the new Rural Emergency Hospital provider designation.
Commission Reports to Congress on Medicaid and CHIP
Also known as MACPAC, the non-partisan Medicaid and CHIP Payment Advisory Commission conducts analysis and makes recommendations to Congress about policies affecting Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). In the first of two reports required for 2024, MACPAC focuses on ways to increase Medicaid beneficiaries’ participation in policymaking, how to make the denials and appeals process in Medicaid Managed Care more transparent, and provides analysis of allotments to states for Medicaid Disproportionate Share Hospitals.
Racial/Ethnic Differences in Experiences of Intimate Partner Violence and Postpartum Abuse Screening Among Rural US Residents who Gave Birth 2016-2020
The University of Minnesota describes rates of self-reported intimate partner violence among rural residents before or during pregnancy, and the frequency by which different racial or ethnic groups are not screened for abuse after giving birth. Uses 2016-2020 data from the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS), a population-based surveillance survey. Features statistics with breakdowns by race or ethnicity.
Findings Released on Rural-Urban Differences in Housing Cost Burden Across the U.S.
The University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center examines rural-urban differences in housing affordability across Census regions, divisions, states, and counties, using data from the 2017-2021 American Community Survey.
Prevent or Treat: Availability of Diabetes Self-Management Education and Dialysis in High Need Rural Counties
Researchers from the Rural and Minority Health Research Center assess the availability of in-county diabetes self-management education and dialysis across rural and urban counties. Among the findings: at least one site for kidney dialysis services is available in 59.2 percent of all counties across the U.S., but present in only 31.1 percent of noncore rural counties.