rural hospitals

Christina Campos (center right) speaks to staff in the emergency department at Guadalupe County Hospital in Santa Rosa, New Mexico. The hospital is one of the first to start the process of converting into a rural emergency hospital as part of a new federal payment program.

Struggling to survive, the first rural hospitals line up for new federal lifeline

A new rural hospital payment model shifts the focus of services away from overnight stays to outpatient and emergency care. Still, experts say the law needs to be amended to provide the right mix of care for rural communities.

Rural communities with struggling hospitals often turn to outside investors willing to take over their health care centers. Some are willing to sell the hospitals for next to nothing to companies that promise to keep them running.

NPR Health

Buy a rural hospital for $100? Investors pick up struggling institutions for pennies

Blake Farmer

Some rural hospitals are in such bad shape, they're selling for next to nothing. One company is snapping several distressed or closed hospitals in rural Tennessee, hoping to turn a profit.

Staff from Delta Health Center prepare to vaccinate people in Leland, Miss., last week. In some places, rural hospital workers have been slow to get the vaccine themselves.

Health News Florida

Why Lagging COVID Vaccine Rate At Rural Hospitals 'Needs To Be Fixed Now'

Tamara Keith

When it comes to persuading people to get a COVID-19 vaccine, health care professionals are influential. But in some rural communities, hospital staff themselves are hanging back.

Leon County Judge John Cooper on June 30, 2022, in a screen grab from The Florida Channel.

Health News Florida

What Happened When The Only ER Doctor In A Rural Town Got COVID?

John Daley - Colorado Public Radio

The pandemic has been particularly lethal in rural areas — it’s taking lives in those areas at a rate reportedly nearly 3.5 times higher than in metropolitan communities.

Health News Florida

Hospitals Grapple With Lack Of Testing Agents

For nearly two weeks, a machine meant to run COVID-19 test results has been assembled and ready to operate at George E. Weems Memorial Hospital in rural…

More than 65% of the nation's small, rural hospitals took out loans from Medicare when the pandemic hit. Many now face repayment at a time when they are under great financial strain.<strong></strong>

NPR Health

Rural Hospitals Teeter On Financial Cliff As COVID-19 Medicare Loans Come Due

Sarah Jane Tribble - KFF Health News

The federal loans were meant to help hospitals survive the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet they're coming due now — at a time when many rural hospitals are still desperate for help.

Health News Florida

Miami Entrepreneur Behind Collapse of Midwest Hospital Empire

SWEET SPRINGS, Mo. — The money was so good in the beginning, and it seemed it might gush forever, right through tiny country hospitals in Missouri,…

After a difficult time in her life, Jill Hill knew she needed therapy. But it was hard to get the help she needed in the rural town she lives in, Grass Valley, Calif., until she found a local telehealth program.

NPR Health

With Rural Health Care Stretched Thin, More Patients Turn To Telehealth

Patti Neighmond

Advances in online tech are revolutionizing health care, with patients now emailing doctors, filling prescriptions or even getting therapy via a video session. But what if you can't afford broadband?

Health News Florida

Rural Hospitals Wary Of Florida's Budget Proposal

Andrew Quintana

Rural Hospitals are having trouble providing health care to their patients, and officials say the Florida Legislature’s budget plan isn’t likely to help.

Lulabelle Berry surveys the 600 acres she and her husband, Jimmy, own in the Ozarks near Mountain View, Ark. Berry walks laps on her porch to aid her recovery from a stroke. She says she's grateful for the drug that saved her life. "It's been a good life," she says.

NPR Health

Rural Hospitals Struggle To Stock Expensive Drugs That Could Save Lives

Sarah Jane Tribble

A federal drug program blocks rural hospitals from getting discounts on rare-disease drugs, forcing staff to cut back on supplies of lifesaving medicines.