Category: Rural Health
Trump’s new $100K visa fee could worsen state doctor shortages, experts say
Rural communities have long struggled to recruit and retain doctors. Many rural hospitals are struggling financially, and have had to eliminate services or even shut down. The shortage of providers is critical in rural communities that tend to have higher rates of chronic illness and early death compared with their urban counterparts.
Many immigrant physicians help fill those gaps thanks in part to the H-1B visa, which allows skilled foreign workers to come work in the U.S.
Study: Mobile Health Clinics Offer Alternative Access to Care
A new report found that mobile health clinics can provide rural communities with access to healthcare in areas where healthcare facilities and healthcare workers may be scarce.
Rural Health Transformation Program Won’t Make Up for Federal Budget Cuts, Experts Agree
A new program touted to give $50 billion in federal funding to rural hospitals won’t necessarily keep rural hospitals from closing, according to several experts in rural health.
‘You’re Going to See Very Severe Things and Dangerous Things’: Medicaid Cuts in Rural Idaho
Maternity care deserts are counties with no hospital or birth center offering obstetric care and no obstetric clinicians. According to data collected by March of Dimes, 32% of Idaho’s counties are maternity care deserts.
Research: Policies to Keep Rural Maternity Units Open Not Working
Maternity care is a service that is necessary, but not well reimbursed, and in rural areas with a heavy reliance on Medicaid for financial support, continuing to fund that service can be a difficult decision for hospital administrators to make.
Report: More Rural Maternity Departments Facing Closure
Only 42% of U.S. rural hospitals still offer labor and delivery services. In 11 states, less than a third of the hospitals do, the study found.
Medicaid cuts are likely to worsen mental health care in rural America
Medicaid cuts in the massive tax and spending bill signed into law earlier this month will worsen mental health disparities in those communities, experts say, as patients lose coverage and rural health centers are unable to remain open amid a loss of funds.
Suicide Rates Remain Higher in Rural Areas, Study
Between 2018 and 2020, the suicide rate again increased across the country, but more so in rural areas, the researchers found. When looking at urban areas overall, researchers found that suicide rates averages about 14 suicides per 100,000. Looking at the overall rural area, average rates neared 20 per 100,000.
Rural Hospitals and Patients Are Disconnected From Modern Care
Counties without fast, reliable internet and with shortages of health care providers are mostly rural. Nearly 60% of them have no hospital.
Rural Pharmacies Are Transforming to Take on More Healthcare Responsibilities
As hospitals in rural communities close, pharmacists are changing their workflow and business models to focus on providing more services.
Social factors help explain worse cardiovascular health among adults in rural vs. urban communities
Researchers found that factors such as levels of income and education, having enough food to eat, and owning a home mostly explained the higher rates of people in rural areas who had high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart disease.
Doctor shortages have hobbled health care for decades − and the trend could be worsening
For decades, experts have warned of an impending decline in the physician workforce. Now, Americans across all regions, specialties and socioeconomic backgrounds are experiencing that decline firsthand or personally.
Retired Doctors Step Up in the Face of a Rural Health Care Crisis
By Pat Raia, The Daily Yonder March 11, 2025 Four years ago, family practitioner Dr. Jeff Chappell retired from his post as medical director of the Wayne Community Health Center in Bicknell, Utah. He was excited to undertake a new…
GOP Takes Aim at Medicaid, Putting Enrollees and Providers at Risk
At stake is coverage for roughly 79 million people enrolled in Medicaid and its related Children’s Health Insurance Program. So, too, is the financial health of thousands of hospitals and community health centers — and a huge revenue source to all states.
Study: Obstetrics Units in Rural Communities Declining
According to the researchers, the decline of obstetrics units in rural communities is contributing to rising maternal morbidity rates.