Rural Health
News by Topic: Health occupations
May 18, 2026 - Highlights the role of emergency medical services in Indian Country. The theme for this year's National EMS Week reflects teamwork and coordination that strengthen emergency care, improve outcomes, and help to save lives.
Source: Indian Health Service
May 15, 2026 - North Dakota is launching an initiative to support rural and tribal healthcare providers in implementing suicide risk screening, follow-up care, and improved referral pathways to mental health and behavioral healthcare services. About 164 North Dakotans died by suicide in 2025.
Source: North Dakota Health & Human Services
May 15, 2026 - The University of Nebraska Medical Center has opened a new $95 million building on the Rural Health Education Complex in Kearney, allowing the campus to offer medicine, pharmacy, and public health programs for the first time. The number of healthcare students on the Kearney campus is expected to double, to about 625.
May 15, 2026 - The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has awarded Vibrant Emotional Health $255 million to administer a suicide and crisis hotline. The 988 Lifeline allows people to reach crisis counselors 24/7 for help with a mental health, suicide, or substance use crisis.
Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
May 12, 2026 - A 5-year grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration has enabled Pennsylvania to launch the 'Healthy Moms, Vibrant Futures' maternal health strategic action plan, focusing on reducing maternal mortality and morbidity. Twenty-three rural counties in Pennsylvania do not have hospitals offering labor and delivery services.
Source: WVIA
May 11, 2026 - Highlights the dangers of grain bin entrapment, profiling a rescue operation in Switzerland County, Indiana. A grain rescue tube developed at Purdue University was used successfully by first responders who had practiced with it regularly.
Source: FarmProgress
May 11, 2026 - The Care Collaborative, a University of Kansas Health System patient safety organization, has launched a program to support maternity care in rural areas, by offering in-person instruction at emergency rooms across the state. In Kansas only about a third of rural hospitals still deliver babies.
Source: WAFB9
May 10, 2026 - The University of Minnesota Medical School is partnering with Lakewood Health System to launch a residency in Staples, a small city in west-central Minnesota. Residents will have one year of training in Minneapolis, followed by two years in Staples. The aim of the program is to address the shortage of doctors in rural Minnesota.
Source: MPR News
May 8, 2026 - Opinion piece discussing effects of healthcare provider shortages in rural Ohio. Ohio Senate Bill 258 would would allow Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs) to practice without the physician collaboration requirement currently in place, and might help alleviate shortages in rural and underserved areas.
Source: Ohio Capital Journal
HRSA: Notice of Criteria for Determining Maternity Care Health Professional Target Areas
Federal Register
May 7, 2026 - Notice of final rule from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) finalizing updates to the criteria for determining Maternity Care Target Areas (MCTAs), geographic areas within Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs) that have a shortage of maternity care health professionals. This rule also summarizes and responds to comments received on the February 3, 2026, proposed rule. Updates to Maternity Care Health Professional Target Areas will be implemented beginning August 15, 2026.
Source: Federal Register