Rural Health News

AHA leaders discuss 2024 rural legislative priorities, release new advocacy agenda.

Nearly 1,100 rural health care practitioners and leaders convened in Orlando for AHA’s 37th Rural Health Care Leadership Conference. The annual event brings together rural hospital CEOs, senior executives, clinical leaders and trustees to share strategies, insights and resources unique to the rural health system.

Billionaire-backed Arnold Ventures is once again pushing its anti-hospital agenda with a new one-page “report” making the Orwellian claim that “site-neutral payment reforms will protect rural patients,” writes Aaron Wesolowski, AHA vice president of research strategy and policy communications.

Northern Light Health in Brewer, Maine, partnered with Morehouse School of Medicine to create a rural residency program for physician assistants.

Chris Barber, president and CEO of St. Bernards Healthcare, discusses the problems certain MA plan practices can create for patients and their caregivers, especially for rural hospitals and health systems that face a unique set of challenges in caring for their communities.

Hospitals and health systems are prioritizing preserving access to care for patients in rural America, including via access points like hospital outpatient departments that provide essential services for rural and low-income communities, according to a new AHA report released Jan. 25.

The Federal Communications Commission Jan. 10 released a final rule updating the Rural Health Care program, which offers discounted rates for rural broadband and other communications services to support virtual health care services.

AHA will again host a series of in-person meetings to provide the field with valuable insights and productive networking.

Three rural hospital and health system leaders discuss the new ways they are retaining their workforce and how they are proceeding to attract future generations of health care workers.

AHA Dec. 20 announced the leadership team from Queen’s North Hawaii Community Hospital, a 35-bed rural acute care hospital in Waimea, Hawaii, as the recipient of the association's 2023 Rural Hospital Leadership Team Award.

The Federal Communications Commission Dec. 12 rejected an application by Starlink for nearly $900 million in Rural Digital Opportunity Funds to bring broadband services to rural locations, including health care facilities, concluding the application failed to demonstrate the company could deliver the promised service.

Sean Fadale, president and CEO of Nathan Littauer Hospital and Nursing Home in Gloversville, N.Y., will serve as 2024 chair of the AHA Rural Health Services Committee.

AHA Executive Vice President Michelle Hood previews the AHA Rural Health Care Leadership Conference — one of AHA's flagship events — which will be held Feb. 11-14 in Orlando, Fla.

AHA Nov. 27 applauded the Assistance for Rural Community Hospitals Act (H.R. 6430), legislation that would extend for five additional years the Medicare-dependent Hospital program and enhanced low-volume Medicare adjustment.

Laura Appel, executive vice president of the Michigan Health and Hospital Association, and Christina Campos, CEO at Guadalupe County Hospital, New Mexico, discuss what’s involved in converting to and meeting the eligibility requirements of a Rural Emergency Hospital, and what patients stand to gain from it.

As the nation celebrates #NationalRuralHealthDay, AHA Chair-elect Joanne Conroy, M.D., president and CEO of Dartmouth Health, discusses the challenges confronting rural hospitals and health systems in the U.S., and solutions for providing quality and cost-efficient care for the communities that need it most.

In a letter submitted to the Senate Finance Subcommittee on Health for a hearing Nov. 14, the AHA expressed support for the CONNECT Act (S.2016/H.R. 4189) and urged Congress to allow Medicare beneficiaries to access telehealth services wherever they and their providers are and allow rural health clinics, federally qualified health centers and critical access hospitals to serve as distance sites.

AHA Nov. 9 released a social media toolkit and graphics to help hospitals and health systems celebrate National Rural Health Day Nov. 16 and highlight through the week the unique challenges facing rural communities.

Two leaders from South Dakota-based Monument Health discuss the rural health system’s health equity journey, which captured this year’s AHA Carolyn Boone Lewis Equity of Care Award for excellence in advancing health equity in rural or small communities.

AHA Oct. 5 offered the House Ways and Means Committee proposals and suggestions to consider as it looks for avenues to broaden access to health care for patients in rural and underserved regions.