When A Rural Hospital Closes, The Town Struggles To Survive

The story of Hancock Memorial Hospital in the tiny town of Sparta, Georgia is not unique. Hancock Memorial Hospital was among the first of nine rural hospitals that have closed across Georgia since 2000. Today, it’s overgrown with weeds and vines, while the roof caves on the gurneys and computers still inside. When County Commissioner Sistie Hudson tries to recruit a new industrial employer, one of the first things they ask is: “Do you have a hospital?” That's a non-starter for most businesses. 

University of North Carolina professor Mark Holmes studied the economic impact of 140 rural hospital closures nationwide. He found that three years out, losing a hospital costs a community, on average, “about 1.6 percentage points in unemployment, about $700 in per capita income, and that was in [year] 2000 dollars so that’d be probably about $1,000 currently." 

Read, or listen, to the story on American Public Media, Marketplace.

The Challenges of Adopting Health IT for Rural Hospitals

Michael Archlueta, Director of IT for Mt. San Rafael Hospital in Trinidad was recently quoted in Becker's Hospital Review. When discussing the challenges of rural health IT adoption, Mr. Archlueta said, "At times, I've faced difficulty in regards to having limited resources made available to me. "The challenge has been the tremendous work-load that I’m juggling and expectations that I’m continuously striving but successfully overcoming all obstacles." 

Mt. San Rafael Hospital is not alone. Across the country, other small rural hospitals face hurdles when it comes to funding, personnel and other resources needed to implement EHRs and other forms of health IT. Read the article here.

Response to Study Finding CAHs Had a Slightly Worse Mortality Rate Than Major Medical Centers

A recent research report in the Journal of American Medicine stated that Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) had a slightly worse mortality rate than major medical centers. Dr. Wayne Myers, a retired pediatrician and rural medical educator, responds in The Daily Yonder stating that the report gave the wrong reasons for the small difference in survival between the rural CAHs and larger regional hospitals. Read Dr. Myers's insightful response here.

AHA Rural Chair Says Reimbursement Top Challenge

Alvin Hoover, CEO of King's Daughters Medical Center in Brookhaven, MS, chairs the American Hospital Association's Section for Small or Rural Hospitals. Read his interview in "Health Leaders" about the reimbursement challenges facing rural hospitals in the reform landscape. Hoover says the overarching challenge is going to be to helping the legislators understand that massive cuts to reimbursement to try to lower the deficit can't all be on the backs of hospitals.  Read the interview here. 

NBC Political Director Says Rural/Urban Divide “Stark”

NBC political director and chief White House correspondent, Chuck Todd, declared the “Rural-Urban political divide is as stark as it has ever been.” Speaking to a Washington, D.C. news radio station Monday, Todd said today’s divided nation is no longer “red state verses blue state, it’s rural verses urban.” He added that many of the politically divisive issues such as gun control and abortion stem from rural and urban differences that are “cultural.” Chuck Todd has been invited to speak during the National Rural Health Association's 24th annual Rural Health Policy Institute next month. Join other Coloradans in DC to continue the discussions about rural health and meet with Colorado's elected officials. Click here for more details on the Policy Institute. You can listen to Chuck Todd’s full interview here.

NRHA's Rural Health Policy Institute

With health reform, the fiscal cliff and a new Congress set to decide the future of healthcare, change is coming to rural America. NRHA's Rural Health Policy Institute is a great opportunity for you to educate your elected officials, advocate for your facilities and continue the fight to protect rural healthcare. The Colorado Rural Health Center is the state contact for NRHA's 24th Rural Health Policy Institute, so come with CRHC staff as we learn more about rural health policy and visit our elected officials on the hill!

ONC Goal: 1,000 Rural Hospital Meaningful Users by End of 2014

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT has set an ambitious goal of 1,000 rural hospitals becoming meaningful users of health IT by the end of 2014.  Despite the budgetary and work force challenges rural hospitals face, they are making steady progress on health information technology adoption. Between 2009 and 2011 the rural provider EHR adoption rate more than doubled. To speed adoption and share best practices, ONC created the Rural Community of Practice (CoP) and has recruited and convened leaders with expertise to roll out pilot projects. Its 10 subcommittees track the key challenges rural hospitals face.  Read the full article by David Raths, Healthcare Informatics.