More than 850 rural health care leaders are in Phoenix this week for the 31st Annual AHA Rural Health Care Leadership Conference. They are participating in educational sessions and sharing strategies and resources to accelerate the shift to a more integrated and sustainable rural health care environment.

During today’s opening session, AHA President and CEO Rick Pollack thanked attendees for the critical role they play in providing care in communities across America and ensuring patients have access to vital health care services. Pollack also discussed major challenges and opportunities for rural hospitals in 2018 and beyond, including those related to value and affordability, chronic care management and consumerism. Watch a short video of Pollack from the conference discussing these issues.

Later in the day, AHA Chair-Elect Brian Gragnolati, president and CEO of Atlantic Health System in Morristown, NJ, led a panel focused on future health care delivery models in rural communities. Gragnolati spoke about how hospitals in different areas of the country will have to pursue models that are right for their patients and their populations, but that all hospitals must work on expanding access, improving health outcomes and lowering the total cost of care. As part of the panel, AHA Board Member Christina Campos, administrator of Guadalupe County Hospital in Santa Rosa, NM; Ronald Paulus, M.D., president and CEO of Mission Health System in Asheville, NC; and Rachelle Schultz, president and CEO of Winona (MN) Health, discussed how strategic collaborations and key stakeholder relationships can be integrated to strengthen the models and drive success.

Related News Articles

Headline
States have until Sept. 30 to submit an optional letter of intent to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services indicating they plan to apply to the…
Headline
Susan Doherty, AHA’s vice president of field engagement, and Rebecca Chickey, AHA’s senior director of behavioral health services, write on the unique ways…
Blog
This year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that over 49,000 people died by suicide in 2023, the latest year for which data was…
Headline
A blog by Julia Resnick, AHA senior director of health outcomes and care transformation, describes a new project with the Commonwealth Fund that will explore…
Headline
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Sept. 15 announced that states can now apply for funding from the Rural Health Transformation Program created…
Headline
The AHA detailed its key health care priorities for the remainder of the year in comments to House and Senate majority and minority leaders Sept. 15. The AHA…