Rural Health

Little Rock, Ark.-based Baptist Health has reached a definitive agreement to acquire South Arkansas Regional Hospital in El Dorado and add the facility to its system June 14, pending regulatory approvals. The 151-bed hospital will be renamed Baptist Health Medical…

The rise in telemedicine over the past several years hasn’t translated to more behavioral healthcare access in rural areas, according to a March 5 study in JAMA Network Open. Researchers from Boston-based Harvard Medical School and Providence, R.I.-based Brown University…

Grand Forks, N.D.-based Altru has acquired CHI St. Alexius Health Devils Lake (N.D.) — a 25-bed critical access hospital — from Chicago-based CommonSpirit. The hospital is now known as Altru Hospital Devils Lake, according to a March 2 Altru news…

Ivy Tech Community College Bloomington (Ind.) has received a gift from Bloomington philanthropists Connie and Steve Ferguson to expand its nursing programs, part of a broader effort with Indianapolis-based IU Health to strengthen Indiana’s nursing workforce. The gift, combined with…

The digitization of rural healthcare is at a critical juncture, and efforts are underway to address the longstanding challenges, physician shortages, a rising wave of hospital closures, geographic isolation, transportation barriers, and limited access to broadband internet. These issues persist…

South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden signed HB 1043 into law Feb. 25, a bill aimed at supporting rural healthcare recruitment. The measure appropriates funds to reimburse healthcare professionals who have complied with the requirements for rural recruitment assistance programs, according…

As funds begin flowing to states through the five-year, $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Program, hospital leaders are confronting a central question: Will the initiative meaningfully stabilize struggling providers — or will it fall short of offsetting an estimated $137…

A new national coalition of health systems and strategic partners has launched to address worsening shortages in access to medical specialists in rural areas and underserved urban communities across the United States. The National Specialty Care Access Coalition — a…

The Bristow (Okla.) Hospital Authority has joined Tulsa, Okla.-based Saint Francis Health System under a five-year lease agreement as Saint Francis Bristow. Saint Francis received approval from the Bristow City Council for the takeover in late November, however, the health…

Healthcare is fueling U.S. job growth, but inside hospitals and health systems, momentum is changing.  Healthcare added 81,900 of the 130,000 jobs created nationwide in January, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “way outperforming most of the rest…