Rural Health

As healthcare organizations navigate rapid technological change, rural hospitals continue to face unique challenges that often go overlooked, Nitin Agarwal, CIO of Wayne Memorial Hospital in Honesdale, Pa., told Becker’s. “Rural organizations are doing a heck of a lot more…

Several states have had to revise their Rural Health Transformation Program plans under federal pressure, KFF Health News reported June 16. State officials and healthcare leaders say CMS has used the program to push specific policy changes, with agency staffers…

Burlington-based University of Vermont Health has eliminated 142 positions. Seventy-six are permanent position eliminations while 66 roles will be restructured with new job descriptions, the health system announced June 9. Most reductions fall outside of direct patient care, though the…

About a month after Sioux Falls, S.D.-based Sanford Health and Robbinsdale, Minn.-based North Memorial Health signed a definitive agreement to combine, the organizations’ CEOs told Becker’s the timing reflects a broader reality facing healthcare: For many regional systems, long-term sustainability…

Less than half of rural hospitals in the U.S. still offer labor and delivery services, and researchers warn the situation will worsen unless commercial payers, Medicaid programs and employers change how they pay for maternity care. A June 8 report…

President Trump’s June 2 executive order to expand AI-enabled cybersecurity tools to rural hospitals could help narrow a longstanding imbalance in healthcare cybersecurity, according to two health system CIOs who say smaller organizations face the same threats as larger systems…

The New Mexico Health Care Authority announced a $76.2 million federal funding opportunity through Healthy Horizons, a component of the state’s Rural Health Transformation Program, to expand specialty, maternal, behavioral health and chronic disease care. The Santa Fe-based authority said…

For a hospital in a rural state, out-of-state recruitment can be a challenge. Chief Human Resources Officer Neil Teatsorth at San Juan Regional Medical Center in Farmington, N.M., said the state has handed hospitals a powerful new recruitment tool. New…

Some of the most exceptional care in the country is delivered close to home, in the community hospitals that serve as trusted anchors for neighborhoods, towns and regions across America. Becker’s is proud to release the 2026 edition of its…

Clay Center, Kan.-based Clay County Medical Center received a $2.5 million state grant to purchase a da Vinci 5 surgical robot, bringing robotic-assisted surgery to the rural Kansas community, CBS-affiliate WIBW 13 reported May 30.  The Kansas Department of Health…