Copy this CollectionRural communities in the U.S. are facing hospital closures at an increased rate in recent years. According to a study conducted at the University of North Carolina, 75 rural hospitals have closed since 2010. Rural communities are more vulnerable to healthcare shortages because people who live in rural areas tend to have higher rates of Medicaid and Medicare, more uninsured patients, and less healthcare providers.
The stories in this collection show innovative ways that communities and state governments are combatting the rural healthcare crisis in their areas. A program in Montana sends students from rural communities to a hybrid medical school where students train in rural areas in Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho but receive their degree from University of Washington. This program has been successful in bringing primary care physicians back to practice in rural Montana. University of California at Riverside is piloting a very similar program. In New Mexico, hospitals at risk of closure banded together into a Co-op to improve efficiency at prevent shut-downs. In Kansas and Georgia, private businesses are helping boost rural hospitals by offering financial assistance and structural changes to the existing healthcare systems.
