Rural Project Examples Addressing Access - Rural Health Information Hub

I-REACH (Improving Rural Enrollment, Access, and Healthcare in Rural Veterans)

Updated/reviewed November 2025

Need: To improve veterans' access to healthcare in rural Michigan.
Intervention: I-REACH connects veterans to healthcare services and other programs and helps healthcare facilities and providers become more veteran-friendly.
Results: The program has received positive feedback from Veteran Service Officers in counties where there were outreach events.

Updated/reviewed November 2025

Need: To support pregnant and parenting women with a history of substance use, mental health, or co-occurring disorders in rural areas of Montana.
Intervention: One Health, a consortium of Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), developed a team of "recovery doulas" – individuals who are dual-certified as doulas and peer-support specialists. The One Health recovery doula program offers group and individual services to women and their partners from pregnancy through the first years of parenthood.
Results: A team of four recovery doulas (or doulas-in-training) employed by One Health offer services in 8 rural eastern Montana counties. One Health has also successfully trained and certified 35 Peer Recovery Doulas statewide through their Peer Recovery Doula certification curriculum.

Updated/reviewed October 2025

Need: To improve oral health among the residents of the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota.
Intervention: St. Francis Mission founded a dental clinic, staffed by volunteers from across the country, to offer free oral healthcare to residents of the Rosebud Reservation.
Results: The clinic typically offered 20 one-week clinics every year and served 3,000 patients after transitioning to electronic records in 2021.

Updated/reviewed June 2025

Need: Transportation to medical appointments for children and expectant mothers living in rural Alabama.
Intervention: Kid One Transport provides rides to medical appointments for clients who otherwise have no other means of transportation.
Results: The program has transported 477,880 children and expectant mothers to and from medical appointments. Children have recovered from life-threatening illnesses and are experiencing a higher quality of life.

Updated/reviewed May 2025

Need: To expand healthcare access in rural Alabama communities.
Intervention: The Auburn University Rural Health Initiative is working with communities across Alabama to develop a healthcare model that includes primary care, substance use disorder treatment and mental health treatment via state-of-the-art telehealth technologies, coupled with health and wellness programs and services provided by faculty and students.
Results: As of 2025, there are five telehealth care stations open located in LaFayette, Boligee, Akron, Catherine, and Gainesville, Alabama. These stations have impacted over 3,400 individuals, with 187 community events, 1207 patient consultations, and 43 new health ambassadors.

Updated/reviewed April 2025

Need: Free, non-emergency air travel for people of all ages who need to access medical care and other essential services far from home.
Intervention: A network of more than 1,600 pilots donate their time, skills, aircraft, and all costs associated with flying to help families and individuals in need in 12 western states.
Results: Families are able to receive vital medical treatment and have other needs met that might not otherwise be possible because of financial, medical, or geographic limitations.

Updated/reviewed April 2025

Need: Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs) across the state of South Carolina were purchasing breast milk from out-of-state milk banks for preterm infants.
Intervention: The Mother's Milk Bank of South Carolina (MMBSC) opened 25 sites in South Carolina for breast milk to be donated, safely pasteurized, and delivered to NICUs across the state.
Results: Over 24,320,167 ounces of milk have been donated to MMBSC depot sites and over 14,932,920 ounces of milk have been delivered to South Carolina NICUs.

Added December 2024

Need: To train the next generation of psychiatrists in a rural context, while providing psychiatric care to an underserved region of West Virginia.
Intervention: A new rural psychiatry residency program at Marshall University, in which residents split their time between the rural town of Point Pleasant and the larger city of Huntington.
Results: The program welcomed its first class of residents in July 2024.

Added August 2024

Need: Support for people experiencing domestic violence in Kingsville, Texas and the surrounding area.
Intervention: A grassroots task force leading a series of initiatives that include a court accompaniment program, trusted partner trainings for community members, and a hotel voucher program for emergency shelter.
Results: More than 100 people have been trained in the trusted partner program, and at least a dozen hotel vouchers have been utilized.

Updated/reviewed July 2024

Need: To expand services for individuals and families living in poverty in rural Western New York.
Intervention: The Rural Outreach Center (ROC) offers care coordination, therapy, budgeting assistance, and multiple other services and opportunities to help address immediate needs as well as empower individuals to work toward long-term freedom from generational poverty.
Results: The Rural Outreach Center serves approximately 250 adults and children each year through counseling, care coordination, and empowerment opportunities. The ROC reports that many participants have achieved and sustained goals related to housing, savings, employment, and other social determinants of health – which are also measures of poverty.