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Rural Health Information Hub
Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
News by Topic: Health occupations

Mar 9, 2026 - Summarizes comments from a HIMSS26 Healthcare Cybersecurity Forum discussing cybersecurity for rural hospitals. Covers topics including regional collaboration, communicating with facility administration, and cybersecurity workforce.
Source: Healthcare IT News
Mar 9, 2026 - Promotes mobile clinics as a delivery model for effective maternal health outreach in rural and other communities. Highlights maternity care deserts nationally and in Florida. Discusses successful use of the model in Florida for maternity care, noting that few of the nationally tracked mobile clinics offer maternal and infant healthcare.
Source: The Conversation
Mar 6, 2026 - Profiles a labor and delivery department in a rural North Carolina Critical Access Hospital. Maternity services were re-started in 2020 using family physicians after closing the department in 1991. Describes maternity care access across North Carolina, challenges with sustaining the service for rural communities, and how they can be a model to other rural communities.
Source: North Carolina Health News
Mar 5, 2026 - Highlights the new Medical Laboratory Sciences Extended Internship Program at an Arkansas university. The program aims to reduce rural medical laboratory staff shortages in Arkansas and nearby states by training local students. An increase in rural lab staff would both speed up lab processing times and decrease the cost of care.
Source: UAMS News
Mar 2, 2026 - The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is seeking comments on an information collection titled "Medicare Enrollment Application for Physician and Non-Physician Practitioners." The Form CMS-855I is the enrollment application submitted by physicians and non-physician practitioners to ensure the applicant has the necessary credentials to provide the healthcare services for which they intend to bill Medicare. Comments are due by April 1, 2026.
Source: Federal Register
Mar 2, 2026 - Describes progress made and upcoming plans for a grant aiming to train community health workers in Texas to deliver the 4Ms of Age-Friendly Care. This work is part of the National Rural Age-Friendly Initiative, an initiative developed through a partnership between the National Rural Health Association and The John A. Hartford Foundation.
Source: National Rural Health Association
Feb 24, 2026 - Describes workforce shortages in rural Colorado and a rural-focused program in the University of Colorado Denver Anschutz School of Medicine aiming to reduce those shortages. Highlights the programs attention to rural training and preparing students for family medicine.
Source: The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel
Feb 19, 2026 - Discusses the work of resident physicians in rural Missouri. A new rural residency program has placed 2 residents in rural communities, improving access for those in the area.
Source: KRCG
Feb 18, 2026 - Describes a Tennessee university's mobile dental care program bringing access to oral care into rural communities. Notes the potential improvements on both health outcomes and the dental workforce in the area.
Source: Chief Healthcare Executive
Feb 11, 2026 - The Georgia Opioid Crisis Abatement Trust has awarded more than $600,000 to research and prevention projects at Mercer University School of Medicine. The projects address substance use in Georgia and emphasize prevention, treatment, and impact in rural communities most affected by the opioid epidemic.
Source: The Den