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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Closures of healthcare facilities and services

Rural Health on Life Support
Podcast episode discussing the effects of policy on rural maternal health outcomes and access to maternity care services. Covers racial and ethnic disparities in severe maternal morbidity and mortality and the role of state policies, including Medicaid policies, on maternal and infant health.
Date: 06/2023
Type: Audio
Sponsoring organization: Impact! Communications, Inc.
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Rural Health on Life Support - The State of America's Rural Health Systems
Podcast episode discussing the rural health landscape and how policies affect rural healthcare systems and service delivery. Covers rural hospital closures, payment policy, workforce concerns, emergency medical services (EMS), the Rural Emergency Hospital designation, and more.
Date: 06/2023
Type: Audio
Sponsoring organization: Impact! Communications, Inc.
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Rural Health Research Recap: Rural Hospital Closures: 2023 Update
Summarizes recent research from Rural Health Research Centers examining hospital closures. Features statistics including number of acute hospitals as of 2020 with breakdowns by type and location, rural hospital closures from 2005-2022 with breakdowns by isolated rural, small rural, and large rural location, and numbers of closures by year from 2005-2022 with breakdowns by complete or converted closures.
Author(s): Per Ostmo
Date: 06/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Research Gateway
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Policy Recommendations for Improving Rural Cancer Services in the United States
Discusses cancer healthcare access for rural residents and factors in access challenges. Discusses rural physician recruitment, facility closures, reimbursement, data gathering, and graduate medical education. Offers policy recommendations for incentivizing and increasing the rural cancer care workforce as well as gathering cancer-related data.
Author(s): Adrienne B. Lent, Daniel Derksen, Elizabeth T. Jacobs, Leila Barraza, Elizabeth A. Calhoun
Citation: JCO Oncology Practice, 19(5), 288-294
Date: 05/2023
Type: Document
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Rural Health Challenges and Opportunities
Presentation slides discussing rural health challenges, including access and affordability, poor health, and underlying factors driving the stress on rural health systems. Outlines policy opportunities to improve affordability and create incentives for improved health.
Author(s): Timothy McBride
Date: 05/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: Center for Advancing Health Services, Policy and Economics Research, RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
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Closed, Converted, Merged, and New Hospitals with Medicare Rural Designations: January 2018-November 2022
Provides an overview of four Medicare rural hospital designations - Critical Access Hospital, Low-Volume Hospital, Medicare Dependent Hospital, and Sole Community Hospital - and factors related to financial distress that these designations are intended to address. Explores the number of rural-designated hospitals that have closed, merged, converted, or opened between January 2018-November 2022 and compares the number of rural-designated hospitals with the number of non-designated hospitals. Outlines considerations for Congress regarding policy options for rural hospitals and access to healthcare services in rural areas.
Date: 04/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Congressional Research Service
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Rewards and Frustrations of Rural Surgery Practice
Discusses challenges in rural surgery practice, such as demographic trends, workforce shortages, issues with surgical training, rural hospital closures, and economic pressures. Includes a link to video featuring Michael Sarap and Alisha D. Reiss, of the American College of Surgeons.
Author(s): Michael Sarap, Alisha D. Reiss
Date: 04/2023
Type: Document, Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organization: American College of Surgeons
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Caitlin Carroll on Rural Hospital Survival
A podcast episode featuring Caitlin Carroll of the University of Minnesota's School of Public Health. Discusses the financial challenges rural hospitals face and common paths for unprofitable hospitals - continuing as-is, closure, or merging with another hospital system.
Date: 04/2023
Type: Audio
Sponsoring organization: Health Affairs
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Forces Driving Change in Rural North Carolina
Examines major forces driving change in rural North Carolina communities, which influence people, communities, and businesses. Includes sections on rural healthcare inequities, social determinants of health, and the long-term impact of COVID-19 on rural people. Features a county-level map showing health outcome rankings as of 2022, and statistics on the number of healthcare professionals per 10,000 people, with breakdowns by urban, suburban, and rural areas. Also contains interactive drivers, which present expanded coverage of selected topics and include interactable maps and graphs.
Additional links: Interactive Driver - A Rural NC for Everyone, Interactive Driver - Education for Tomorrow's Labor Market, Interactive Driver - Rural Healthcare Inequities and Social Determinants of Health
Date: 03/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: North Carolina Rural Center
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Oversight Hearing – Addressing the Challenges of Rural America
Recording of a March 29, 2023, House Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies regarding challenges rural communities face. Discussions include access to healthcare; rural workforce development, including the healthcare workforce; telehealth; and more.
Additional links: Carrie Cochran-McClain, National Rural Health Association - Testimony, Tearsanee Davis, University of Mississippi Medical Center - Testimony, Tom Morris, Federal Office of Rural Health Policy - Testimony
Date: 03/2023
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organization: House Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies
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