While rural healthcare challenges are real and largely driven by proposed federal policy shifts, they “cannot be examined in a vacuum,” two Richmond, Va.-based VCU Health hospital presidents wrote in a recent column.
Innovation is a necessity for rural hospitals, Sheldon Barr, president of VCU Health Community Memorial Hospital in South Hill, Va., and Josh Hammond, president of VCU Health Tappahannock (Va.) Hospital, wrote in a May 8 letter to the editor in the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
Success at the hospitals is driven by innovation at the rural level as a core competency — not an exception, they wrote. It expands care access, strengthens the workforce and positions rural hospitals to thrive alongside urban partners.
One way innovation is improving care access is through virtual care clinics that offer patients highly specialized services without needing to travel far from home. VCU Health patients also receive “cutting-edge therapies once limited to urban academic medical centers” through national clinical trial participation and ongoing cancer research.
The success is not accomplished in isolation, the leaders wrote. Both Community Memorial Hospital and Tappahannock Hospital benefit from VCU Health’s research expertise, specialty services and ability to train future specialists. Collaborating with the health system ensures rural healthcare investments and enables advanced care to stay local.
“As communities and decision makers look ahead, the path forward is clear: support innovation and strengthen the partnerships that keep care local,” the presidents wrote. “When rural hospitals are empowered to innovate, rural communities win.”
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