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Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Recruitment and retention of health professionals

Allied Health Workforce: Supporting Rural Providers, with Chris Laman
An episode of the Exploring Rural Health podcast featuring Chris Laman, Vice President of Strategy at Columbia Memorial Hospital in Astoria, Oregon. Focuses on the hospital's work developing and maintaining the rural allied health workforce. Part 2 in a 3-part series from the December 2025 Health Innovation Potluck held in Hutchinson, Kansas.
Date: 03/2026
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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'Our Peers Can Be The Best Teachers': Rural Hospitals Learn From One Another at Innovation Potluck
Highlights the second annual Rural Workforce Innovation Potluck, which brought together healthcare professionals from around the country to share experiences in rural recruitment, retention, and bridging workforce gaps.
Author(s): Gretel Kauffman
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 03/2026
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Community-Based Recruiting: Keeping Providers Close, with Joe Theine and Jen Gero
An episode of the Exploring Rural Health podcast featuring Joe Theine, CEO of Southwest Health System, based in Cortez, Colorado, and Jen Gero, MD, SHS Chief Medical Officer. Focuses on their health system's community-based recruiting activities and how these efforts help integrate new providers into the community. Part 1 in a 3-part series from the December 2025 Health Innovation Potluck held in Hutchinson, Kansas.
Date: 02/2026
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Wisconsin Health Care Workforce Report
Provides information on the healthcare workforce in Wisconsin, with a focus on healthcare training and career pathways, healthcare demand and capacity, optimizing and retaining the current workforce, and more. Includes discussion on rural-focused healthcare training.
Date: 02/2026
Sponsoring organization: Wisconsin Hospital Association
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Rural Practice Made Attractive: A Scoping Review of Rural Primary Care Physician Recruitment and Retention Incentives
Offers a scoping review on the effectiveness of 17 workforce development programs aiming to retain rural primary care physicians. Discusses the lack of systematically collected retention data and the impact on effective evaluation of these programs.
Author(s): Kelley Arredondo, Katherine Bay, Laura Witte, et al.
Citation: Journal of General Internal Medicine, 2026
Date: 01/2026
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Doula Services for Medicaid Beneficiaries in Virginia: Access, Utilization, and Policy Lessons
Discusses barriers and facilitators of access to doula care for Medicaid beneficiaries in Virginia after evaluation of a collection of both qualitative and quantitative data gathered between January 2022 and January 2025. Discusses geographic disparities including concerns for access in rural areas and policies to address access.
Author(s): Desirae Leaphart Mensah, Alison E. Cuellar
Citation: Health Affairs Scholar, 4(1)
Date: 01/2026
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Evaluating Rural Healthcare Workforce Programs: Applying Modified Whole-of-Person Retention Improvement Framework in VHA Programs
Examines gaps in recruitment and retention programs in addressing workforce shortages in rural areas. Uses the Veterans Health Administration's 2023 Rural Recruitment and Hiring Plan and aims to identify gaps by applying a modified whole-of-person retention improvement framework.
Author(s): Meghan R. Longacre, Linda M. Kinney, Kathleen L. Carluzzo, et al.
Citation: Journal of Rural Health, 42(1), e70115
Date: 01/2026
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Strengthening Rural Health Care: A Scoping Review of Nurse Recruitment and Retention Strategies
Results of a review identifying recruitment and retention programs for nurses in rural areas, including strategy characteristics and location. Features statistics and a county-level map showing locations of programs and Primary Care Heath Professional Shortage Areas.
Author(s): Kelley Arredondo, Laura Witte, Alexander Paterson-Roberts, et al.
Citation: Medical Care, 64(1S), S18-S25
Date: 01/2026
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Predictors of Inpatient RN Turnover in Rural and Urban VHA Hospitals
A study on the rates and associated factors of registered nursing (RN) workforce turnover in rural and urban Veterans Health Administration (VHA) hospitals. Breaks down data by RN demographic factors, such as age, salary, and experience within the VHA, and hospital factors, such as average age, average base salary, and average number of units worked, among other factors.
Author(s): Katherine G. Bay, Chase S. Eck, Melissa K. Knox, et al.
Citation: Medical Care, 64(1S), S9-S17
Date: 01/2026
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Minnesota's Hospital Nursing Workforce: A Study on Turnover and Exits among Minnesota's Hospital-Based Nurses
Provides an overview of the nursing profession in Minnesota, focusing on workforce supply, employment characteristics, nurse retention, and strategies to improve job satisfaction. Includes comparisons of job satisfaction of nurses in rural versus urban settings.
Date: 2026
Sponsoring organization: Minnesota Department of Health
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