USDA Announces Investments in Rural Community Facilities that will Benefit Nearly 300,000 Americans
Mar 18, 2019 - The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced $91 million through the Community Facilities Direct Loan Program to help rural recipients make infrastructure improvements and provide essential facilities. 16 projects in 12 states have been funded, impacting nearly 300,000 people.
Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture
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Report: Health Centers Will Need Support to Meet Goals of White House HIV/AIDS Initiative
Feb 26, 2019 - Details a new report which found that in order for Community Health Centers to meet the goals set for them by the Trump Administration in fighting HIV/AIDS, they will require secure, long-term funding. Health centers care for 16% of people with HIV and 22% of all people with HIV who are receiving HIV-related care, and thus have been giving a leading role in this effort to boost prevention, treatment, and management services. Expanding services, it found, will be most difficult for health centers in states that have not expanded Medicaid and with a high concentration of people living with HIV/AIDS.
Source: National Association of Community Health Centers
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The Hospital is Dead. Welcome to Ducktown.
Feb 14, 2019 - Details the aftermath of a rural hospital closure in Tennessee. Residents are now faced with an hour's drive to care or facing the risk of high medical bills for out of state care. At least nine other rural hospitals have closed their doors since 2012, and another is scheduled to close in March. Others have eliminated all inpatient services. Also touches on some efforts to address this issue.
Source: Nashville Tennessean
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Cumberland River Hospital to Close Permanently March 1
Jan 29, 2019 - Details a hospital closure in rural Tennessee. The decision was made in response to years of insufficient revenue resulting in significant financial losses from declining reimbursements and declining patient volumes. Cumberland River Hospital opened in 1965 and provided emergency and acute care services, geriatric psychiatric care, skilled rehabilitation care, a number of outpatient services, and home healthcare.
Source: Overton County News
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To Help Distressed Rural Areas, Tennessee Governor Issues First Executive Order
Jan 24, 2019 - Details an executive order issued by Tennessee Governor Bill Lee which requires all of the state's executive departments to assess their current impact on distressed rural areas and to provide recommendations on how they will accelerate plans in order to serve people in these areas better. The fifteen counties in focus are some of the most economically distressed counties in the nation, based on an annual index of unemployment, income, and poverty levels.
Source: Governing
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