Rural Spotlight

Seven Questions Health System CEOs are Grappling with Now

August 27, 2025

Seven Questions Health System CEOs are Grappling with Now

Summer of 2025 was an unusual one for health system leaders across the country that, in many ways, seemed to move both slowly and abruptly at once. Here are seven of the many questions that health system CEOs are facing as the season winds down and the effects of one massive piece of federal legislation begin to take shape.

7 Questions Health System CEOs are Grappling With

  • What’s the real financial hit to my system?
  • How much influence do health systems have?
  • What’s an OBBBA reaction versus a change I’d need to make anyway?
  • How do CEOs lead when decline comes drip by drip?
  • In the near-term, what happens when ACA enhanced premium tax credits expire?
  • What do physician and labor shortages look like now?
  • What costs are hidden or harder to see?

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Apply Today for the 2025 NHSC Students to Service Loan Repayment Program

August 27, 2025

Apply Today for the 2025 NHSC Students to Service Loan Repayment Program

Up to $120,000 in tax-free loan repayment is now within reach! You can apply to the National Health Service Corps (NHSC) Students to Service Loan Repayment Program if you are your final year of medical, nursing, or dental school.

A Maternity Care Target Area Supplemental Award of an additional $40,000 is available for physicians specializing in obstetrics, gynecology, or family medicine physicians who regularly practice obstetrics, as well as certified nurse midwives.

In exchange for a three-year service commitment, you can reduce your educational debt and launch your career where it’s needed most in high-need rural, tribal, or urban communities.

Click Here to Learn More & Apply

Elevating Materials Management for Rural Health Care Impact

August 27, 2025

Elevating Materials Management for Rural Health Care Impact

Materials management is often seen as a purely operational responsibility – tracking supplies, negotiating with vendors, and maintaining inventory. In rural hospitals, however, those day-to-day decisions have deep financial and clinical implications. With tighter budgets, every supply chain choice directly affects patient care and overall hospital performance.

Visibility across materials, finance, and clinical operations is essential. Without it, rural facilities risk redundant depreciation, missed billing for chargeable supplies, or critical product shortages that disrupt care delivery.

Why it Matters:

Each supply chain decision resonates in multiple areas:

  • Untracked assets may distort financial statements and budget forecasting,
  • Delayed orders not only disrupt patient workflows – they may hit clinical billing and revenue, and
  • Overlooked chargeable items lead to lost reimbursement opportunities.

In rural settings where cost-containment is paramount, these ripple effects aren’t theoretical – they are real, consequential, and measurable.

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Congress Looks to Open Veterans’ Use of Non-VA Facilities

August 27, 2025

Congress Looks to Open Veterans’ Use of Non-VA Facilities

Recently introduced legislation aims to make it easier for rural veterans to seek care at local hospitals and clinics, as many veterans live hours from VA facilities or need health services that aren’t readily available from the VA.

Many veterans live hours from VA facilities, or they need health services that aren’t readily available from the VA. In such cases, the department is supposed to provide a referral and pay for private care. Critics say it often hesitates to do so.

Two Republican senators have introduced legislation that would make it easier for rural veterans to seek care at local hospitals and clinics. The proposals would build on VA Community Care programs that started under Democratic President Barack Obama and were expanded in Trump’s first term.

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Long Drives, Fading Trust mark New Rural Health Reality

August 27, 2025

Long Drives, Fading Trust mark New Rural Health Reality

It’s been more than three years since the closure of Audrain Community Hospital, ending more than a century of continuous local care in Mexico, Missouri.

Once a cornerstone of rural health in the region and the first community cancer center in the state, the hospital shuttered in March 2022 after a series of management failures under Noble Health and its successor, Platinum Health. For the thousands who relied on it, the closure didn’t just change where they went for care, it changed the very rhythm of their lives.

This same story has played out in rural counties throughout Missouri and the Midwest. Twenty-one hospitals have closed in Missouri in the past 10 years, many in rural areas. Residents must drive long distances for care or make the decision that it’s just not worth traveling until the pain is too great or the symptoms too strong to ignore.

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Obesity Rate Changes Differ for Rural, Urban Areas, Regions

August 27, 2025

Obesity Rate Changes Differ for Rural, Urban Areas, Regions

According to a recent study, adult obesity rates vary across geographic regions and rural/urban areas, suggesting the exposure to obesity-related diseases can differ from one location to the next. Additionally, a lack of access to care contributes to lower rural Life expectancies, says NRHA CEO Alan Morgan, along with lifestyle choices and a lack of access to healthy food.

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Webinar: Ninety Days to Dialysis: How a 24-Bed CAH Built a Sustainable Nephrology Program for Local Patients, September 4

August 27, 2025

Webinar: Ninety Days to Dialysis: How a 24-Bed CAH Built a Sustainable Nephrology Program for Local Patients, September 4

What does it take for a small critical access hospital to launch 24/7 inpatient nephrology – and begin building a community dialysis unit – in just three months?

T McKenzie Health in Watford City, ND, leadership saw the need: 36 dialysis patients in their county and the nearest home dialysis facility 180 miles away. Their response? A strategic, phased approach that started with inpatient nephrology and swing-bed dialysis – and laid the foundation for long-term outpatient expansion.

In this session, Dr. Rubin Chandran – a board-certified nephrologist with 20+ years of rural experience – shares the roadmap any CAH can follow to do the same.

You’ll Learn:

  • The 90-day implementation playbook for inpatient nephrology and acute dialysis,
  • The “4 Ps” of due diligence: physicians, prevalence, pipeline, and payer mix,
  • How to use inpatient services to de-risk outpatient expansion, and
  • What it takes to plan, build, and manage a CMS-compliant dialysis unit.

Cost: Free

When: Thursday, September 4, 1:00p.m. – 2:00 p.m.

Click Here to Register

Webinar: the State of U.S. Nursing & Technicians Report: What Over 1M Voices Tell Us About Staffing, Stress and Strategy, September 9

August 27, 2025

Webinar: the State of U.S. Nursing & Technicians Report: What Over 1M Voices Tell Us About Staffing, Stress and Strategy, September 9

The 2025 State of U.S. Nurses and Technicians Report reveals a tough truth: traditional workforce strategies aren’t keeping up.

This discussion unpacks new data from over 1 million healthcare workers, including nurses and technicians, to provide health system leaders with a sharper lens on workforce trends, pain points and what’s working in hiring and retention.

Key Takeaways:

  • How new workforce expectations are reshaping hiring, retention and staffing priorities,
  • What AI adoption means for training, tool selection and front-line support, and
  • Why compensation and benefits still matter but may not be enough.

Cost: Free

When: Tuesday, September 9, 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Click Here to Register

Webinar: Advancing Mental Health Care: Access-Focused Virtual Care Strategies for HCA Healthcare Physician Practices and Urgent Care Centers, August 28

August 27, 2025

Webinar: Advancing Mental Health Care: Access-Focused Virtual Care Strategies for HCA Healthcare Physician Practices and Urgent Care Centers, August 28

America’s behavioral-health crisis is intensifying, marked by soaring demand for mental health services and a nationwide shortage of psychiatric clinicians. To close these gaps, seamless coordination across every level of care is essential.

To make mental health support even more accessible for patients in HCA Healthcare physician clinics and urgent care centers, the healthcare organization teamed up with Talkiatry, adding high-quality virtual psychiatry to resources. Talkiatry virtual visits help ensure patients with mild to moderate mental health conditions in physician clinics and urgent care centers have access to board-certified psychiatrists when HCA Healthcare or community resources do not have capacity.

Join leaders from HCA Healthcare and Talkiatry to hear how collaboration and an access-first strategy can improve outcomes, enhance patient experience and meet the growing demand for behavioral health services.

Webinar: Advancing Mental Health Care: Access-Focused Virtual Care Strategies for HCA Healthcare Physician Practices and Urgent Care Centers, August 28

Key Insights:

Discover how an integrated healthcare network, reinforced by strategic virtual care collaborations, can advance mental healthcare for physician clinics and urgent care centers.

  • Benefits of increased access: to psychiatric care within the primary care setting, including improved patient outcomes and enhanced care coordination.
  • Virtual care as a force multiplier: Why a tele-psychiatry solution accelerates access for primary-care and specialty physician practices to complement existing HCA Healthcare and community resources.
  • Scalable collaboration model: Practical steps and lessons learned for health systems looking to weave virtual psychiatry into existing patient care resources.

Cost: Free

When: Thursday, August 28, 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.

Click Here to Register

Webinar: The Advantage of a Vendor Neutral MSP: How South Shore Health Reduced Premium Labor Costs by 47%, September 3

August 27, 2025

Webinar: The Advantage of a Vendor Neutral MSP: How South Shore Health Reduced Premium Labor Costs by 47%, September 3

Rising labor costs and staffing shortages have made workforce management a top priority for hospitals and health systems nationwide. But not all MSP models are created equal. Agency-led solutions can come with inherent conflicts of interest – placing the vendor’s priorities ahead of the client’s needs.

Discover how South Shore Health partnered with HWL to implement a vendor-neutral MSP model – delivering results that aligned with their workforce goals.

Insights Include:

  • How a transparent, conflict-free partnership delivers mutually beneficial outcomes,
  • How a collaborative approach to reduce agency reliance and costs can be achieved, and
  • How an open and competitive vendor panel results in better fill rates and quality.

Cost: Free

When: Wednesday, September 3, 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Click Here to Register