Topics: Critical Access Hospitals

For more information and resources, see RHIhub’s Critical Access Hospitals topic guide.

Keeping the Doors Open: Vulnerable Rural Hospitals Benefit from Federally Funded Technical Assistance

It’s a crisis: rural hospital closures. Helping at-risk hospitals thrive in order to continue to serve their communities, Texas A&M’s Center for Optimizing Rural Health (CORH) offers technical assistance through a federally funded program for vulnerable hospitals. The CORH team and an Oklahoma program participant share specifics on just how the program’s assistance can help keep doors open.

“Swing bed” is that oft-heard phrase describing not a physical hospital bed, but post-acute care for the rural patient who is well enough to leave the acute care hospital but not well enough to be safe at home. In this 2-part story, experts and hospital administrators review the swing bed program’s historical implementation and provide stories and examples of the value this over 40-year-old healthcare delivery and reimbursement model brings to patients, to the hospitals providing their care, and ultimately to rural communities.

The healthcare delivery model known as the swing bed program has allowed rural and Critical Access Hospitals to serve patients by keeping them in their rural communities for post-acute care. Reviewing the history of this program, experts describe early implementation and key program elements that have sustained its success for over 40 years.

On the list of leading causes of death, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, impacts millions of rural Americans and their quality of life. Though limited treatments are available for COPD, research indicates that pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) provides major benefits, yet is currently under-prescribed and facing challenges from COVID-19 and from reimbursement policies. Researchers discuss the potential that tele-PR might bring to rural areas, and rural healthcare leaders highlight the benefits of their PR programs for service areas.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, is a condition that continues to steal rural America’s breath. Researchers, philanthropists, and healthcare professionals talk about new rural research efforts and the impact of COVID-19 on COPD. Also discussed is the importance of pulmonary rehabilitation, an impactful treatment long known to improve quality of life and now backed by new research proving it decreases death rates in select patients.

Bringing focus to rural housing quality as a social determinant of health, a healthcare organization joins a service organization and housing experts to explain housing’s impact on health and how these organizations can work together to improve rural population health.

To improve care for its American Indian and Latino patients, St. Charles Madras, a Critical Access Hospital in Oregon, created a Patient Family Advisory Council, implemented cultural competency trainings, and installed new artwork to better represent its community.

To address the issue of food insecurity in the rural Minnesota communities it serves, Lakewood Health System created Lakewood Engage, a community-based program with multiple initiatives including a “Food Farmacy,” home delivery, and a farmers market.

Alisa Druzba, director of the New Hampshire’s Office of Rural Health and Primary Care, discusses her journey to becoming a SORH director, the ways her state has been affected by the pandemic, and the favorite parts of her job.

Job preparedness is essential for quality caregiving, professional success, and satisfaction. Three rural registered nurses join a nursing doctoral candidate to share their stories about the path to their profession and their perspective on rural nursing preparedness.

The Rural Monitor

Articles and resources on key rural health issues, from the Rural Health Information Hub

Topics: Critical Access Hospitals

Keeping the Doors Open: Vulnerable Rural Hospitals Benefit from Federally Funded Technical Assistance

History of the Swing Bed: A Look Through the Rural Rearview Mirror

Pulmonary Rehabilitation: Benefiting Rural Individuals, Benefiting Rural Population Health

Still Stealing Rural America’s Breath: An Update on Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Critical Access Hospital in Oregon Uses Advisory Council and Trainings to Improve Cultural Competency

Lakewood Engage Tackles Food Insecurity in Rural Minnesota

Nursing Preparedness: Words from Researchers and Rural Nurses