Register Now for the 2026 AHA Rural Health Care Leadership Conference

From finding innovative ways to strengthen the workforce and gaining insights on how to navigate change and adversity to leveraging artificial intelligence to enhance clinical workflows, the upcoming AHA Rural Health Care Leadership Conference offers a wealth of learning and networking opportunities.

More than 1,000 rural health care leaders will gather in San Antonio Feb. 8-11 to share actionable strategies and resources aimed at improving access to care, leveraging unique workforce approaches and implementing digital technologies.

Take advantage of early-bird pricing and register by Dec. 12.

Program Highlights Include:

Health Care Workforce Well-being: Scaling Change

Challenging work conditions and job-related stress are key drivers of burnout and poor mental health for health care workers. This workshop will help hospital executives and trustees assess where their organization stands and develop practical solutions to increase engagement and well-being across the workforce. Attendees will explore key interrelated metrics to track and report on well-being, learn strategies for building systemic programs that support team resilience and examine effective approaches to trust-building across their organizations.

AI to Enhance Clinical Workflows

Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping clinical workflows, but rural hospitals face unique governance, ethical and workforce challenges in its implementation. This session will explore how rural systems are leveraging AI — especially ambient AI — to support early recognition, documentation integrity, patient outcomes and workforce extension while navigating consent and trust concerns. The panelists will discuss lessons learned from pilot programs and evaluation frameworks and the need for transparent guardrails to ensure that AI aligns with safety goals.

Rural Health Care in Crisis: Where Do We Go From Here?

Rural hospitals are experiencing an urgent and growing crisis. Many facilities already have closed their doors, and hundreds more — possibly more than 700 — are at risk of closure. These closures are driven by a range of financial and other challenges, both new and old. Recent policy changes will radically reshape the landscape for rural health care providers and present unprecedented challenges. This presentation will address the crisis facing rural hospitals across America, the ability of rural hospitals to survive and serve their communities, and the many leadership challenges and approaches in this period of profound uncertainty.

Reimagining Maternal and Infant Health: Data-driven Solutions for Maternity Care Deserts

Rural communities continue to shoulder a disproportionate share of the maternal and infant health crisis in the United States, with growing numbers of counties classified as maternity care deserts. This session will move beyond the statistics to explore data-driven strategies and promising innovations that hospitals and health systems are using to ensure quality and access to care.