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Rural Health Information Hub

The Rural Monitor
Features

In-depth stories examining key rural health issues.

In Rural Communities, Where Child Care Is Often Scarce, Healthcare Organizations Are Finding Creative Ways to Help

December 10, 2025
To meet the demand for affordable child care, rural healthcare organizations in Indiana, North Dakota, and Wisconsin have partnered with childcare providers, schools, businesses, nonprofits, and other organizations. These healthcare facilities sell or lease space at a steep discount, and one formed a cooperative with other businesses to offer child care.

Improving Care and Accessibility for Rural Patients with Disabilities

October 2, 2024
Rural people with disabilities face barriers to healthcare, such as transportation, inaccessible buildings, and providers' lack of experience or confidence treating this patient population. Experts, including a public health department in Montana and a disability and health program in New Hampshire, discuss these barriers and ways to improve accessibility and communication with patients with disabilities.

Rural Community Health Worker Programs: Proving Value and Finding Sustainability

July 24, 2024
For decades, community health workers (CHWs) provided their services outside usual healthcare reimbursement models. In recent years, with research supporting CHWs as professionals effectively assisting patients with navigating health-related social determinants, federal and private payers are exploring reimbursement mechanisms. Four rural healthcare organizations share both the impact and the continued sustainability challenges — and successes — of their CHW programs.