Rural Project Examples Addressing Health workforce

Updated/reviewed March 2024

Need: To expand access to psychiatric services throughout South Carolina, with a focus on underserved and rural communities.
Intervention: South Carolina Department of Mental Health (SCDMH) created the SCDMH Emergency Department and Community Telepsychiatry programs to expand telepsychiatry access for patients in emergency departments and in various settings across the state.
Results: The program has improved access, affordability, and provided quality care for patients with mental illness living in rural and underserved areas of South Carolina.

Updated/reviewed March 2024

Need: There is a shortage of rural physicians in the Northwestern United States.
Intervention: University of Washington medical students are receiving training through the TRUST program in rural, underserved communities across a five-state radius.
Results: Long-lasting connections have been formed among regional and underserved communities, medical students, and rural health professionals, with the goal of producing more rural physicians.

Updated/reviewed February 2024

Need: To reduce farm injuries and improve EMS and fire/rescue's response to these injuries in rural Louisiana and Mississippi.
Intervention: AGRIMEDIC is a two-day training for first responders.
Results: 810 first responders have received training.

Added February 2024

Need: To provide a convenient and affordable lodging option for patients who have traveled from a distance to receive medical treatment in Bozeman, Montana.
Intervention: An RV parking program that lets anyone who is actively seeking care at Bozeman Health Deaconess Regional Medical Center stay in the hospital parking lot.
Results: Throughout the summer of 2023, at least one patient was using an RV parking space at all times.

Updated/reviewed February 2024

Need: To improve and increase prevention and care services for HIV, STDs, hepatitis C, and other infectious diseases.
Intervention: PAETC-NV provides clinical and didactic trainings, conferences, technical assistance, capacity building, webinars, and other services to providers and healthcare organizations statewide.
Results: In 2023, PAETC-NV trained more than 1,600 healthcare providers across Nevada to increase clinical capacity in the care, screening, and prevention of HIV, other sexually transmitted diseases, and hepatitis C.

Added February 2024

Need: To improve maternal health in northeastern New Mexico.
Intervention: The Rural OB Access & Maternal Service program provides obstetric and maternal fetal medicine telehealth, home telehealth kits, and free access to lactation consultants and family navigators.
Results: ROAMS has worked with 1,500 unique individuals since July 2021.

Updated/reviewed January 2024

Need: To promote mental health and prevent substance use disorders in rural Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Alaska.
Intervention: Coast to Forest strengthens local capacity through training, education, and community partnerships.
Results: In its three years of operation, the project has trained over 500 individuals across the Pacific Northwest in Mental Health First Aid, developed 36 county-level resource guides, organized a series of Community Conversations in three rural Oregon counties, and more.

Updated/reviewed January 2024

Need: Hawai'i is experiencing a severe shortage of family medicine physicians.
Intervention: The Hawai'i Island Family Medicine Residency (HIFMR) program uses an interprofessional team-based approach so residents learn how to care for many types of patients in different healthcare settings.
Results: Since 2017, HIFMR has graduated a class of 3 to 6 Board-certified family medicine physicians annually. Most graduates have remained in the state to practice medicine; those who have left have entered fellowship programs and plan to return to Hawai'i Island to practice.

Added January 2024

Need: To create rural clinical placement and postgraduate fellowship opportunities for Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) students and recent Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner (ARNP) graduates in Washington.
Intervention: The Rural Nursing Health Initiative (RNHI), a program out of the University of Washington School of Nursing that created clinical placement opportunities for DNP students and a postgraduate fellowship program for ARNP graduates.
Results: Rural clinical stipends have been awarded to 80 DNP students, and 12 ARNPs completed rural fellowships between 2021 and 2023.

Updated/reviewed January 2024

Need: To provide rural Nevada EMS personnel an opportunity to receive quality training and current EMS information from national EMS educators.
Intervention: The Rural Nevada EMS Conference offers continuing education units and engaging sessions for EMS personnel.
Results: In 2023, 185 individuals attended the conference in-person.

Rural Project Examples: Health workforce