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Rural Health Information Hub
Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
News by Topic: Access

Sep 9, 2025 - Video highlighting a program offering free access to licensed mental healthcare for students and their parents in a rural Georgia community. Describes common barriers to mental healthcare for rural residents.
Source: WALB News 10
Sep 9, 2025 - Highlights the work of the North Carolina Psychiatry Access Line (NC-PAL), a free phone line allowing medical providers to consult with behavioral health specialists about their patients. Discusses ways in which they are reaching rural communities to increase access to mental health services.
Source: North Carolina Health News
Sep 9, 2025 - Profiles the Rough Rider Network, a collaborative effort of 22 independent rural healthcare facilities known as a Clinical Integration Network (CIN). Located in North Dakota, these facilities are working together to save money and improve care across all facilities.
Source: KFF Health News
Sep 2, 2025 - Highlights an initiative in New Mexico providing rural veterans with home visiting services both following emergency department (ED) visits and proactively to prevent ED visits.
Source: VA News
Sep 2, 2025 - Highlights an initiative in South Dakota for virtual nursing services. The program increases access to healthcare services in rural communities and addresses shortages in the registered nurse workforce. Discusses patient satisfaction and rural facility budgets.
Source: Rural Development, U.S. Department of Agriculture
Aug 26, 2025 - The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) will host a public symposium on September 10, 2025, to discuss the implementation of the National Spectrum Strategy. The event can also be viewed virtually on the NTIA website.
Source: Federal Register
Aug 22, 2025 - Discusses the suicide risks for veterans, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) services that increase access to healthcare, and secure firearm storage as a means to reduce suicide risk.
Source: VA News
Aug 13, 2025 - Describes a tour of Alaskan rural and tribal healthcare facilities by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary, noting common challenges with healthcare access for rural and remote communities. Discusses approaches to health and nutrition in Native American communities.
Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Aug 4, 2025 - Summarizes data from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) describing utilization of HRSA-funded health centers. Discusses quality of care badges awarded to nearly 1,000 health centers across the country. Notes that 1 in 5 rural residents receive primary care from these health centers.
Source: Health Resources & Services Administration
Jul 28, 2025 - Notice of final rule from the Department of Defense (DOD) Defense Health Agency (DHA) finalizing provisions published in two interim final rules (IFRs) that temporarily added coverage for the treatment use of investigational drugs under U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-authorized expanded access (EA) programs when for the treatment of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and permitted coverage of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID)-sponsored clinical trials for the treatment or prevention of COVID-19. Among other things, this rule discusses the DOD's decision not to make permanent the coverage of treatment use of investigational drugs under FDA EA programs while updating language for care associated with their administration and broadens the COVID-19 clinical trial benefit to include coverage of clinical trials sponsored or approved by any National Institutes of Health (NIH) Center or Institute to treat or prevent infectious diseases associated with a pandemic or epidemic. This rule is effective August 27, 2025.
Source: Federal Register