Skip to main content
Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
News by Topic: Health workforce

Jun 29, 2026 - Kansas City University's Rural Health Scholars program is building up the rural health care workforce in the region where Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Missouri meet. By building relationships with 8 different community colleges and 2 four-year universities, the program will accelerate career pathways for students who want to become doctors or dentists in rural communities.
Source: The Daily Yonder
Jun 26, 2026 - A Virginia university is offering a new psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner program to address a growing need for rural mental healthcare amid healthcare workforce shortages. The program will support placements in Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, and North Carolina.
Source: Augusta Free Press
Jun 26, 2026 - Interview with Damon Harbison, President of Good Samaritan Hospital in Mt. Vernon, Illinois, and Alexis Hackstadt, a registered nurse who recently joined the Good Samaritan staff. They discuss provider shortages in the rural setting and initiatives to attract and retain staff.
Source: WSIU Public Broadcasting
Jun 24, 2026 - A new philanthropic donation from Mike and Gillian Goodrich to the University of Alabama at Birmingham Marnix E. Heersink School of Medicine will support the training of rural primary care physicians and meet rural training and residency needs. Discusses how well-supported pathways to rural practice support rural health access.
Source: The University of Alabama at Birmingham News
Jun 24, 2026 - Interviews West Virginia Secretary of Health Dr. Arvin Singh about a community paramedicine initiative to increase assessment and treatment for primary care needs, support chronic disease management, provide follow-up services, and connect people to care in cooperation with rural emergency medical services providers in West Virginia.
Source: West Virginia Public Broadcasting
Jun 23, 2026 - Offers an interview with a South Dakota State University assistant professor in the College of Nursing about rural healthcare challenges and the work the university is doing to address nursing workforce shortages in both short-term acute care and long-term care settings in rural communities.
Source: South Dakota State University News
Jun 23, 2026 - Highlights a medical school producing significant numbers of rural practicing physicians. Discusses perceived contributing factors including recruiting rural residents, a rural focus in the curriculum, and osteopathic medicine being suited to rural practice.
Source: KBIA
Jun 22, 2026 - Discusses challenges with offering trauma-informed sexual assault care in rural Idaho. Describes how workforce shortages contribute to access barriers and how a telehealth hub-and-spoke model overcomes some of those barriers. Offers lessons learned following implementation of the model.
Source: Healthcare IT News
Jun 22, 2026 - Describes the Primary Care Medic (PC-Medic) initiative in Pennsylvania's Rural Health Transformation Program plan. PC-Medics would increase healthcare access in rural areas with workforce shortages. Discusses how medics would support existing primary care professionals as well as how to recruit veterans and rural residents to the position.
Source: Pennsylvania Capital-Star
Jun 18, 2026 - Highlights the Rural Immersion Program, an initiative at a Nebraska university allowing students to shadow rural healthcare professionals. The program aims to build the rural health workforce in Nebraska.
Source: UNK News