Rural Long-Term Care Facilities – Resources
Selected recent or important resources focusing on Rural Long-Term Care Facilities.
A Closer Look at the Final Nursing Facility Rule and Which Facilities Might Meet New Staffing Requirements
Summarizes new Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services's (CMS) nurse staffing requirements for nursing facilities outlined in the April 22, 2024, final rule. Analyzes Nursing Home Compare data from April 2024, which reflects nursing home staffing levels from December 2023, to explore the percentage of facilities that meet each of the new nurse staffing requirements. Presents data by nursing ownership status, rural and urban location, special focus facility status, and state.
Author(s): Priya Chidambaram, Alice Burns, Tricia Neuman, Robin Rudowitz
Date: 05/2024
Sponsoring organization: KFF
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Summarizes new Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services's (CMS) nurse staffing requirements for nursing facilities outlined in the April 22, 2024, final rule. Analyzes Nursing Home Compare data from April 2024, which reflects nursing home staffing levels from December 2023, to explore the percentage of facilities that meet each of the new nurse staffing requirements. Presents data by nursing ownership status, rural and urban location, special focus facility status, and state.
Author(s): Priya Chidambaram, Alice Burns, Tricia Neuman, Robin Rudowitz
Date: 05/2024
Sponsoring organization: KFF
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Rural Health Research Recap: Quality Star Ratings: Hospitals, Skilled Nursing Facilities, and Home Health Agencies
Examines the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Overall Hospital Quality Star Rating system among hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, and home health agencies in 2021 and 2022. Features statistics including number of rural hospitals without a star rating with breakdowns by census region, and percentage of hospitals without star rating, with breakdowns by urban or rural location.
Author(s): Per Ostmo
Date: 03/2024
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Research Gateway
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Examines the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Overall Hospital Quality Star Rating system among hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, and home health agencies in 2021 and 2022. Features statistics including number of rural hospitals without a star rating with breakdowns by census region, and percentage of hospitals without star rating, with breakdowns by urban or rural location.
Author(s): Per Ostmo
Date: 03/2024
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Research Gateway
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Rural Health Research Recap: Post-Acute Care in Rural Areas: The Role of Swing Beds and Nursing Homes
Offers statistics on availability of post-acute care in rural areas through skilled nursing facilities, home health agencies, hospice, inpatient rehabilitation facilities, and swing beds. Includes sections on prospective payment system and cost-based reimbursement, and provides statistics on the proportion of nursing home closures in metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas from 2008-2018.
Author(s): Per Ostmo
Date: 03/2024
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Research Gateway
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Offers statistics on availability of post-acute care in rural areas through skilled nursing facilities, home health agencies, hospice, inpatient rehabilitation facilities, and swing beds. Includes sections on prospective payment system and cost-based reimbursement, and provides statistics on the proportion of nursing home closures in metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas from 2008-2018.
Author(s): Per Ostmo
Date: 03/2024
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Research Gateway
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Tribal Nursing Home & Assisted Living Facility Directory
Directory lists all the tribally operated nursing home and assisted living facilities across the country. Provides the tribal affiliation, facility name, address, certification, and number of beds for each facility.
Date: 03/2024
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
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Directory lists all the tribally operated nursing home and assisted living facilities across the country. Provides the tribal affiliation, facility name, address, certification, and number of beds for each facility.
Date: 03/2024
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
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The Rural Nursing Home Landscape
White paper describing the current rural nursing home landscape. Cover the importance of nursing homes in rural communities, the characteristics of these facilities, and the importance of future research to understand and prevent future nursing home closures.
Author(s): Nicole Galler, Casey P. Balio, Qian Huang, Kate Beatty
Date: 02/2024
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Association
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White paper describing the current rural nursing home landscape. Cover the importance of nursing homes in rural communities, the characteristics of these facilities, and the importance of future research to understand and prevent future nursing home closures.
Author(s): Nicole Galler, Casey P. Balio, Qian Huang, Kate Beatty
Date: 02/2024
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Association
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Infection Control Policies and Practices in Residential Care Communities by Selected Organizational and Geographic Characteristics: United States, 2020
Presents nationally representative data on the percentage of residential care communities with emergency operations plans that are specific to or include pandemic response, approaches to implement these plans, and infection control policies and practices. Compares infection control policies and practices by metropolitan status, community bed size, ownership status, chain affiliation, and whether the community has a designated space for dementia care.
Author(s): Amanuel Melekin, Manisha Sengupta
Date: 02/2024
Sponsoring organization: National Center for Health Statistics
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Presents nationally representative data on the percentage of residential care communities with emergency operations plans that are specific to or include pandemic response, approaches to implement these plans, and infection control policies and practices. Compares infection control policies and practices by metropolitan status, community bed size, ownership status, chain affiliation, and whether the community has a designated space for dementia care.
Author(s): Amanuel Melekin, Manisha Sengupta
Date: 02/2024
Sponsoring organization: National Center for Health Statistics
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Nursing Home Workforce Issues and Inequities
Offers an overview of issues related to the direct care workforce in nursing homes including staffing shortages, recruitment and retention, low wages, job training, interdisciplinary care, and more. Discusses proposed policies offering workforce-related reforms. Discusses rural throughout.
Author(s): Jasmine L. Travers, Rita Choula, Edem Hado
Date: 02/2024
Sponsoring organization: AARP Public Policy Institute
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Offers an overview of issues related to the direct care workforce in nursing homes including staffing shortages, recruitment and retention, low wages, job training, interdisciplinary care, and more. Discusses proposed policies offering workforce-related reforms. Discusses rural throughout.
Author(s): Jasmine L. Travers, Rita Choula, Edem Hado
Date: 02/2024
Sponsoring organization: AARP Public Policy Institute
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Nursing Home Closures and Access to Post-Acute Care and Long-Term Care Services in Rural Areas
Examines distance to care for residents needing post-acute care (PAC) and long-term care (LTC) services. Analyzes nursing home closures from 2008 to 2018 and identifies closest PAC and LTC services in rural versus urban areas, with data broken down by population demographics, nursing home characteristics, and distance to providers.
Author(s): Hari Sharma, Redwan Bin Abdul Baten, Fred Ullrich, A. Clint MacKinney, Keith J. Mueller
Citation: Journal of Rural Health, 40(3), 557-564
Date: 01/2024
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Examines distance to care for residents needing post-acute care (PAC) and long-term care (LTC) services. Analyzes nursing home closures from 2008 to 2018 and identifies closest PAC and LTC services in rural versus urban areas, with data broken down by population demographics, nursing home characteristics, and distance to providers.
Author(s): Hari Sharma, Redwan Bin Abdul Baten, Fred Ullrich, A. Clint MacKinney, Keith J. Mueller
Citation: Journal of Rural Health, 40(3), 557-564
Date: 01/2024
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Rural Long-Term Care Services and Supports
Policy position paper regarding challenges related to providing high-quality long-term care for older adults in rural areas. Describes how workforce shortages, long-term care financing, and administrative burden impact rural providers. Outlines policy recommendations for policy reforms to address these challenges and improve access to quality long-term care services.
Author(s): Shakeerah McCoy, Jeff Dunbar, Lex Pierre
Date: 12/2023
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Association
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Policy position paper regarding challenges related to providing high-quality long-term care for older adults in rural areas. Describes how workforce shortages, long-term care financing, and administrative burden impact rural providers. Outlines policy recommendations for policy reforms to address these challenges and improve access to quality long-term care services.
Author(s): Shakeerah McCoy, Jeff Dunbar, Lex Pierre
Date: 12/2023
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Association
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Addressing the Direct Care Workforce Shortage: A Bipartisan Call to Action
Report discusses direct care worker shortages throughout the country. Details shortages of home health aids, certified nursing assistants, and residential care aids, among other direct care workers, and makes recommendations for decreasing shortages. Highlights some of the added barriers faced by rural communities.
Author(s): Lisa Harootunian, Kamryn Perry, Allison Buffett, et al.
Date: 12/2023
Sponsoring organization: Bipartisan Policy Center
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Report discusses direct care worker shortages throughout the country. Details shortages of home health aids, certified nursing assistants, and residential care aids, among other direct care workers, and makes recommendations for decreasing shortages. Highlights some of the added barriers faced by rural communities.
Author(s): Lisa Harootunian, Kamryn Perry, Allison Buffett, et al.
Date: 12/2023
Sponsoring organization: Bipartisan Policy Center
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Last Updated: 8/15/2025