Rural Healthcare Workforce – News
News stories from the past 60 days.
Sep 25, 2023 - Part 1 of a documentary discussing shortages of physicians in rural areas. Offers overview of why shortages exist including historic trends in physician training, clinic ownership trends, facility closures, and more. Captions are available in the video player.
Source: Stat News
Sep 14, 2023 - Offers overview of a federal proposal to set minimum staffing levels at U.S. nursing homes and discusses the potential impact on rural facilities, primarily facility closures. Discusses workforce shortages, quality of care issues, and access to specialty care.
Source: NPR, KFF Health News
Sep 11, 2023 - Describes the role nurse practitioners (NPs) could play in easing physician shortages and hospital closings in rural areas. Between 2008 and 2016, rural physicians declined 12.8% and NPs increased 17.6%. Notes the holistic training NPs receive as especially beneficial in rural communities. Discusses concerns by other healthcare practitioners regarding scope creep and patient safety.
Source: Health Leaders Media
Sep 8, 2023 - Summarizes discussions had at a Georgia State Senate committee meeting tasked with studying workforce shortages in rural areas of the state. Discusses Health Professional Shortage Areas, recruitment and retention challenges, hospital closures, and reimbursement rates.
Source: GPB News, PBS, NPR
Sep 6, 2023 - Summarizes a discussion on rural healthcare workforce recruitment and retention at the 2023 National Conference of State Legislatures Legislative Summit. Notes that good data helps policymakers understand where the need is greatest so that resources can be prioritized for those places. Describes incentives used across the country including loan repayment programs, interstate compacts, virtual networking, and more.
Source: National Conference of State Legislatures
Aug 22, 2023 - Notice from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) seeking comments on an information collection request regarding the Health Workforce Connector. The Health Workforce Connector (HWC) helps connect skilled professionals to communities in need by allowing approved Site Points of Contact (POCs) at the National Health Service Corps (NHSC), Nurse Corps Scholarship and Loan Repayment Programs (Nurse Corps), Substance Use Disorder Treatment and Recovery (STAR) Loan Repayment Program, Pediatric Specialty Loan Repayment Program (PS), Nursing Training, and Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education (THCGME) sites to post available opportunities and update site profiles. The HWC also allows users to create a profile, search for approved sites, find job and training opportunities, and connect with other similarly interested clinicians in working with underserved populations. Comments are due by September 21, 2023.
Source: Federal Register
Aug 15, 2023 - Blog post highlighting the shortage of nursing professionals in rural America and the challenges that come with fixing shortages. Discusses hospital closures, recruitment and retention of workforce, nursing school enrollment levels, health disparities for rural residents, and more. Suggests strategies to increase the nursing workforce.
Source: Daily Nurse
Aug 11, 2023 - Describes the distribution of a recent funding announcement from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to grow the nursing workforce. Most of the funding is directed at training for Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs). Notes that the need for APRNs is especially high in rural areas due to primary care and mental healthcare workforce shortages.
Source: Health Leaders Media
Last Updated: 9/27/2023