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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Infrastructure

AHA Future of Rural Health Care Task Force: Final Recommendations
Presents the recommendations of the American Hospital Association Future of Rural Health Care Task Force, including innovation-based solutions and promising practices. Solutions include public-private funding changes for core services, flexible rural hospital infrastructure funding programs, creating a rural design center, and supporting grant writing services. Explores promising rural initiatives such as telemedicine, strategic partnerships, maternal health efforts, broadband investment, and rural philanthropy.
Date: 05/2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: American Hospital Association
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5G Fund for Rural America
Provides an overview of Federal Communications Commission (FCC) efforts to expand universal service to include telecommunications and high-speed internet services. Describes the 5G Fund, how data will be collected, how funds will be awarded, and the two phases of the program.
Date: 05/2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Congressional Research Service
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Arizona Health Workforce Profile: Critical Care
Report presenting the distribution of critical care workforce and infrastructure, comparing rural and urban counties. Offers data by county and breaks down workforce by physicians, nurses, and respiratory therapists.
Author(s): B Koch, S Coates, C Drake, D Derksen
Date: 04/2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Arizona Center for Rural Health
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How Grayson County is Getting Connected
Discusses efforts to build broadband infrastructure in Grayson County, Virginia in rural Appalachia. Describes the planning process, health implications of broadband access in the county, and advice for communities seeking broadband.
Author(s): AARP Livable Communities
Date: 04/2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: AARP
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Broadband in Rural America: Faster Speeds for Home and Healthcare
Highlights the importance of rural broadband infrastructure for access to telehealth, patient portals, and other services. Features a Colorado countywide broadband program, Alabama telehealth services provided via county health departments, and a program providing healthcare access to rural veterans in Kentucky.
Author(s): Allee Mead
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 04/2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Oversight Hearing: Business Meeting to consider S. 421, S. 789 & Oversight Hearing "Build Back Better: Water Infrastructure Needs for Native Communities"
Recording of an oversight hearing of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs to discuss the Western Tribal Water Infrastructure Act of 2021 and hear testimony on its potential effect on the health and wellness of native communities. Features testimonies by representatives of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, the Colorado River Indian Tribes, Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, and Navajo Department of Water Resources.
Additional links: Amelia Flores Testimony, Jason John Testimony, Raymond Tsumpti Testimony, Valerie Nurr'Araaluk Davidson Testimony
Date: 03/2021
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organization: Senate Committee on Indian Affairs
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Electricity Grid: Opportunities Exist for DOE to Better Support Utilities in Improving Resilience to Hurricanes
Examines the measures utilities selected states have adopted since 2012 to enhance grid resilience following major hurricanes, and the challenges utilities face in funding these measures. Describes federal efforts to enhance grid resilience to hurricanes, and challenges unique to rural utilities.
Date: 03/2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021: Broadband Provisions - In Brief
Provides an overview of broadband-related provisions of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021. Discusses the COVID-19 Telehealth Program and the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program. Highlights new grant programs to support broadband connectivity on tribal lands and broadband infrastructure deployment to areas lacking broadband.
Date: 03/2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Congressional Research Service
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Uplifting America's Left Behind Places: A Roadmap for a More Equitable Economy
Report examining economic inequality on a geographic scale, addressing inequity across states, rural and urban areas, and counties. Discusses types of spatial inequality, including health, economic, and racial inequities. Offers recommendations to leverage federal economic development policy to support local and regional development. Discusses investments in connectivity and capacity-building, including broadband, infrastructure, labor markets, and civic institutions, particularly in rural areas.
Author(s): Kenan Fikri, Daniel Newman, Kennedy O'Dell
Date: 02/2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Economic Innovation Group
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Broadband Today: Rural America's Critical Connection
Report discussing the importance of broadband to connecting rural communities, including its role in rural businesses, telehealth access, education, and agriculture. Addresses the impacts of COVID-19 on remote work, telehealth delivery, and changes to business and consumer activity, and explores future steps for broadband funding and adoption in rural areas.
Date: 02/2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Foundation for Rural Service
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