Rural Health
News by Topic: Health workforce supply and demand
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 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
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 20, 2026 - Highlights philanthropic support for a rural workforce program at the Penn State College of Medicine. Discusses recruiting rural students into medical programs as a strategy to solve rural workforce shortages, as well as mobile care delivery and innovation to improve access to care for rural residents.
Source: PennState Health News
Feb 9, 2026 - South Dakota Governor Larry Rhoden has signed a bill protecting nurses who provide care in ambulances and another bill adding firefighters and law enforcement officers to the statutory definition of "ambulance operator." The bills will help improve the continuum of care in rural areas.
Source: South Dakota Searchlight
Feb 9, 2026 - Touro University's medical and dental schools have built clinics and workforce pipelines in rural areas of California and New Mexico. The initiative gives students community-based training while increasing healthcare access for patients.
Source: Inside Higher Ed
Feb 5, 2026 - Describes the experience gained by Iowa medical students in a program aiming to reduce rural physician shortages by exposing students to rural healthcare opportunities.
Source: KCRG
Jan 29, 2026 - Announces hiring plans for the Indian Health Service (IHS), noting that filling vacancies in rural and remote locations has the highest priority. Includes information on how to apply for current and future positions.
Source: Indian Health Service
Jan 22, 2026 - Highlights a new facility at the University of Nebraska at Kearney campus to expand rural health education. The facility will allow for an interprofessional model of training and team-based care. Discusses recruiting students from rural communities with the goal of addressing workforce shortages in Nebraska and improving rural economies in the state.
Source: KSNB
Jan 20, 2026 - Highlights a state-funded program offering charter flights for rural Hawaiians with off-island medical appointments. Describes current and projected funding needs for sustainability, physician shortages in rural areas, reimbursement rate challenges driving workforce shortages, and the state's Rural Health Transformation Program plans.
Source: Honolulu Civil Beat