A bipartisan group of senators led by Senator Brian Schatz, a Democrat from Hawaii, introduced the Ensuring Access to General Surgery Act of 2026, legislation that would create the first formal federal shortage designation for general surgeons and direct the…
Rural Health
As rural hospitals in the U.S. push to ensure long-term financial sustainability, healthcare leaders are encouraging a focus on collaboration to strengthen overall outcomes. The Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform’s most recent analysis found that 720 rural hospitals,…
Iowa has become the first state to fully allocate its initial funding from the Rural Health Transformation Program. The state has allocated all $209 million of its first-year funding for healthcare initiatives, including workforce development, cancer research and prevention and…
Mayo Clinic is helping develop AI-powered tools designed to expand access to hospital-level care in rural and underserved communities through a federally funded initiative aimed at bringing medical services closer to patients’ homes. The Rochester, Minn.-based health system is participating…
As CMS begins distributing first-year awards from the $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Program, three healthcare leaders gathered at the inaugural Becker’s Rural Healthcare Summit on June 12 and offered sharply divergent views on whether federal investment can fix what…
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A rural Texas hospital organization has notified UnitedHealthcare of its intent to end all participation agreements over alleged unsustainable reimbursement rates. Six things to know: 1. Texas Organization of Rural & Community Hospitals Clinically Integrated Network, representing primary care clinics…
As states move through distribution of the $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Program established under HR 1, rural hospital leaders are skeptical the funds will successfully offset the financial pressures they face. The funds, which CMS awarded in December, will…
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…