Rural Project Examples Addressing Healthcare facilities

Updated/reviewed November 2025

Need: To bring preventive care and other services to rural Missouri patients with chronic illnesses and difficulties accessing primary care.
Intervention: Community paramedics make home visits and provide basic care, home assessments, and medication reconciliation and facilitate telehealth visits.
Results: Patients experienced improved access to care, health status, and compliance with medication regimens along with increased patient engagement, satisfaction, and access to community resources.

Updated/reviewed October 2025

Need: To help inform western Wisconsin residents about their health insurance options, community resources and programs, and opportunities to improve their overall health and wellness.
Intervention: The Scenic Bluffs Community Health Centers' Help Team provides free, comprehensive services to help community members overcome barriers to accessing healthcare, including challenges related to health insurance coverage, cost of care, transportation, and other social factors that affect well-being.
Results: In 2024, nearly 1,500 people received support and guidance from the Help Team regarding programs, resources, and health insurance enrollment. In total, 411 individuals were enrolled in health insurance.

Updated/reviewed September 2025

Need: To improve sustainability and financial viability for rural healthcare providers throughout Indiana.
Intervention: A network of rural healthcare providers for Critical Access and other hospitals in Indiana that are dedicated to improving their ability to deliver efficient and high-quality healthcare for their rural residents.
Results: The network has been leveraged to increase access to resources, coordinate services, and improve and expand healthcare access.

Added September 2025

Need: To provide high school students with hands-on healthcare experience while filling high-need roles in a rural hospital.
Intervention: An internship program for high school students at McPherson Center for Health in McPherson, Kansas.
Results: More than 30 students have participated in the program since 2023, seven of whom have become part-time or full-time employees at the hospital as a result.

Updated/reviewed April 2025

Need: Multiple organizations in rural east central Illinois needed a more efficient, centralized system for referring patients experiencing a behavioral health crisis to appropriate treatment services.
Intervention: The Regional Behavioral Health Network was established with a 24-hour toll-free crisis line, providing immediate access to trained crisis clinicians.
Results: Improved access to high quality behavioral healthcare for patients in rural east central Illinois.

Updated/reviewed December 2024

Need: To help ensure the viability of and improve quality at 9 rural, independent hospitals serving 11 Utah counties.
Intervention: A network organization was created to allow member hospitals to communicate, network, and undertake projects together.
Results: Members take advantage of cost savings, education, and networking opportunities through group projects and programs.

Updated/reviewed October 2024

Need: To help hospitals in rural Idaho and Wyoming see how their prices compare to others in the region.
Intervention: The Hospital Cooperative (THC) completes an annual charge comparative, which lists the highest, lowest, average, and median price for a specific charge.
Results: THC has offered these reports since 2010.

Updated/reviewed October 2024

Need: Critical Access Hospitals in Idaho were not able to afford a fixed MRI system.
Intervention: The hospitals partnered to purchase a mobile MRI unit to travel among facilities.
Results: The MRI unit went into service in 2012, providing hundreds of scans per month and traveling among six member hospitals in rural Idaho.

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 October 2023

Need: Across Georgia, especially in rural areas, poor health outcomes and high poverty rates require strategic investments to reduce disparities and improve health across the state.
Intervention: Georgia Health Initiative invests in Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) working in Georgia to build a strong ecosystem of mission-driven community lenders focused on rural and low-income communities. The capital and capacity building provided by CDFIs support systems change to improve health across the state.
Results: Since 2017, grants and Program Related Investments (PRIs) in CDFIs working in low-income rural communities have generated impact through stronger and growing Community Health Centers, expanded affordable housing, green energy loans and jobs, and growing small businesses.

Rural Project Examples: Healthcare facilities