Rural Dispatch: January 2024
Where Are the Nation’s Primary Care Providers? It’s Not an Easy Answer
Rae Ellen Bichell
Politicians keep talking about fixing primary care shortages. But flawed national data leaves big holes in how to evaluate which policies are effective.
A Record Number of Californians Are Visiting Emergency Rooms for Dog Bites
Phillip Reese
There were nearly 50,000 emergency room visits for dog bites in California in 2022. The rate of such visits per capita is up about 70% since 2005.
Native American Communities Have the Highest Suicide Rates, Yet Interventions Are Scarce
Cheryl Platzman Weinstock
Native Americans die by suicide at a higher rate than any other racial or ethnic group, yet research into effective and culturally appropriate interventions is uncommon.
What’s Indoor Air Quality Like in Long-Term Care Facilities During Wildfires? Worse Than You’d Think.
Kylie Mohr
As climate change-driven wildfires increasingly choke large parts of the United States with smoke each summer, new research shows residents in long-term care facilities are being exposed to dangerously poor air, even those who don’t set foot outside during smoke events.
Rising Suicide Rate Among Hispanics Worries Community Leaders
Andy Miller and Molly Castle Work
The suicide rate for Hispanics in the United States has increased significantly over the past decade. The reasons are varied, say community leaders and mental health experts, citing factors such as language barriers, poverty, and a lack of bilingual mental health professionals.
In This Oklahoma Town, Most Everyone Knows Someone Who’s Been Sued by the Hospital
Mitchell Black and Noam N. Levey
Hospitals nationwide face growing scrutiny over how they secure payment from patients, but at one community hospital, the debt collection machine has been quietly humming along for decades.
Federal Program to Save Rural Hospitals Feels ‘Growing Pains’
Sarah Jane Tribble and Tony Leys
Fewer than two dozen rural hospitals were converted into Rural Emergency Hospitals in the program’s first year. Now, advocates and lawmakers say tweaks to the law are necessary to lure more takers and keep health care in rural communities.
Rural Hospitals Are Caught in an Aging-Infrastructure Conundrum
Markian Hawryluk
Small, community hospitals face challenges in paying for the capital improvement projects they need to stay open.
What Would a Nikki Haley Presidency Look Like for Health Care?
Lauren Sausser
Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley’s tenure in the Palmetto State — which overlapped with several tumultuous years of health care reform — and her recent comments offer clues to how her presidency might affect national health care policy.
Delays in State Contracts Leave Montana Health Providers Strapped
Katheryn Houghton
The Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services is months behind in paying organizations contracted to connect people to care. The interruption is likely to have lasting effects, even after the state catches up.
Rising Malpractice Premiums Price Small Clinics Out of Gender-Affirming Care for Minors
Cecilia Nowell
Even in states where laws protect minors’ access to gender-affirming care, malpractice insurance premiums are keeping small and independent clinics from treating patients.
Listen to ‘Tradeoffs’: How the Loss of a Rural Hospital Compounds the Collapse of Care
Six years ago, the hospital in Fort Scott, Kansas, shuttered, leaving residents in the small community without a cornerstone health care institution. In the years since, despite new programs meant to save small hospitals, dozens of other communities have watched theirs close.
Older Americans Say They Feel Trapped in Medicare Advantage Plans
Sarah Jane Tribble
As enrollment in private Medicare Advantage plans grows, so do concerns about how well the insurance works, including from those who say they have become trapped in the private plans as their health declines.
Can Family Doctors Deliver Rural America From Its Maternal Health Crisis?
Sarah Jane Tribble
Family medicine doctors already deliver most of rural America's babies, and efforts to train more in obstetrics care are seen as a way to cope with labor and delivery unit closures.
Child Care Gaps in Rural America Threaten to Undercut Small Communities
Jazmin Orozco Rodriguez
Deep gaps in rural America’s child care system threaten communities’ stability by shrinking the workforce and inhibiting economic potential. Now that pandemic-era federal aid for child care programs and low-income families has ended, it’s up to state and local leaders to find solutions.
The Year in Opioid Settlements: 5 Things You Need to Know
Aneri Pattani
In the past year, opioid settlement money has gone from an emerging funding stream for which people had lofty but uncertain aspirations to a coveted pot of billions being invested in remediation efforts. Here are some important and evolving factors to watch going forward.