Rural Health

Critical access hospitals occupy a singular place in the American healthcare system. With a maximum of 25 inpatient beds and a mandate to provide around-the-clock emergency care, these institutions do far more with far less than almost any other type…

Rural hospitals face an accelerating financial squeeze, driven by declining reimbursement, rising labor costs, workforce shortages and increasing demand from aging populations. In response, policymakers have proposed financial support, including a $50 billion federal allocation intended to stabilize rural healthcare…

Mississippi has established the Mississippi Rural Health Transformation Program Office and launched a related website. The office will coordinate implementation of the state’s rural health plan, align agencies and oversee program administration, according to an April 29 news release from…

Rural healthcare is at an inflection point. Hospitals are closing or scaling back essential services. Labor and delivery units are disappearing. Rural operating rooms sit idle not due to a lack of patients, but to a shortage of clinicians. At…

For millions of patients throughout the U.S., rural hospitals serve as the only feasible care option in their area. The CEOs who run these institutions understand that access to quality healthcare services in rural communities can make all the difference…

Fifty hospitals across 21 states have converted to rural emergency facilities since the law that created the designation took effect in January 2023, according to data from CMS. Here are the hospitals that have converted to rural emergency status, by…

Burlington, Vt.-based University of Vermont Health eliminated nine positions April 14 at Alice Hyde Medical Center in Malone, N.Y., and Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital in Plattsburgh, N.Y., according to a statement shared with Becker’s. The layoffs affected two employees at…

Ritzville, Wash.-based East Adams Rural Healthcare will move forward with a reset of its rural health clinic after nearly closing amid financial challenges at its Ritzville Hospital. EARH shared in February that financial difficulties would force the clinic to shut…

Rural health system IT leaders are bracing for financial strain tied to reimbursement cuts under HR 1, the budget reconciliation law signed by President Trump in July 2025 that includes sweeping reductions to Medicaid funding and eligibility. Early signs point…

A Missouri Senate bill heard April 15 would allow Columbia-based MU Health Care to expand its reach in rural communities and grant it immunity from antitrust laws within the 25 counties specified in the bill. Here are six things to…