Register Now for the AHA Rural Health Care Leadership Conference

Rural hospitals and health systems will face significant challenges in 2025, ranging from workforce shortages to financial instability and age-friendly care delivery. Innovation and developing strong governance practices will be vital to meeting these challenges.

More than 1,000 rural health leaders will gather in San Antonio Feb. 23-26 for the AHA Rural Health Care Leadership Conference to share actionable strategies and resources on these and other issues. The program will help attendees improve access to care, leverage unique workforce approaches, implement digital technologies and prioritize health equity.

Take advantage of early-bird pricing and register by Dec. 20.

Program Highlights Include:

• What’s the Big Idea? Leading Health Care into the Future: Jamie Orlikoff, national adviser on governance and leadership to the AHA, will discuss the current climate of rural health care in America, how we got here and where the future currents and innovative rural leaders may take us.
• 7 Minutes to Innovation: Strengthening the Rural Health Care Workforce: In this fast-paced session, rural hospital leaders will present innovative strategies to tackle workforce challenges — in just seven minutes or less. Each speaker will share transformative approaches that have reshaped their organizations and will cover everything from recruitment and retention to workforce development initiatives. Discover how these leaders overcame rural workforce hurdles and found new ways to empower their teams.
• AHA Washington Update: Join AHA leaders for a discussion on the latest from Capitol Hill. Learn what policies Congress is considering and what it means for rural community hospitals.
• Co-designing Innovative Solutions to Care for All: Join us for a hands-on workshop on co-designing innovative strategies to ensure equitable health care for all. Participants will collaboratively tackle challenges related to patient care access and workforce diversity in rural hospitals and health systems. Using the AHA’s Health Equity Roadmap as a guiding framework, this design-thinking session will develop actionable solutions for data collection, culturally responsive care and community collaboration to reduce disparities and improve health outcomes.