Rural hospitals are their community’s anchor. By providing 24/7 care, essential public services and access to primary care for the 57 million people that live in rural America, these hospitals are vitally important. But the challenges they face have never been bigger.

They include the move to value-based reimbursement, declining populations; aging infrastructure and difficulties in recruiting medical staff to serve in small towns.

How rural hospitals can meet those challenges as they transition towards the new health care world makes the 30th annual Rural Health Care Leadership Conference the place to be Feb. 5–8 in Phoenix.

Attend the conference and learn more about the AHA’s rural hospital advocacy agenda for 2017, and what may be in store for rural health care under the new Trump administration and Congress. Also, AHA President and CEO Rick Pollack will moderate a panel session on the AHA’s task force report on “Ensuring Access in Vulnerable Communities.”

And as always, the conference will bring a unique focus on innovative ideas, thoughtful insights, and tested strategies for improving rural health care and developing the thoughtful leadership that’s necessary to survive and thrive in this changing health care world.

It’s not too late to make it to Phoenix. Signing up for the conference is as easy as visiting www.healthforum-edu.com/rural/.

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