rural hospitals

Health & Safety

After health care attacks, tech giants will help small hospitals with cyber defenses

5:00am August 14, 2024

by Aaron Bolton

As small and rural hospitals struggle against cyber attacks, a federally brokered deal will allow them to access free and discounted cybersecurity services. Experts say it may not be enough.

Health & Safety

Black hospitals vanished in the U.S. decades ago. Some communities have paid a price

7:14am August 10, 2024

by Lauren Sausser

Hundreds of Black hospitals in the U.S. closed after passage of the Civil Rights Act when health care became integrated. Black communities lost a source of employment and pride.

Hospitals in rural America face a dire financial forecast. The government has an incentive plan to help them keep their emergency departments open, while shutting their inpatient services.

Health & Safety

Federal fix for rural hospitals gets few takers so far

5:00am January 10, 2024

Just 18 facilities were converted into Rural Emergency Hospitals so far. Advocates and lawmakers say tweaks to the law are needed to widen the reach and keep health care in rural communities.

Health & Safety

Medicaid expansion will boost rural hospitals and communities, NCDHHS Secretary Kinsley says

2:14pm December 01, 2023

by Paul Garber

North Carolina’s Medicaid Expansion began Friday, adding an estimated 600,000 people to the rolls. North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kody Kinsley spoke to WFDD’s Paul Garber about what the expansion will mean for rural hospitals.

Queue Listen Now

Since 2010, 150 rural hospitals have closed in the United States. Hospital leaders say that Medicare Advantage pays slowly and sometimes not at all and that this could push more hospitals to the brink.

Health & Safety

Medicare Advantage keeps growing. Tiny, rural hospitals say that's a huge problem

4:43pm October 17, 2023

by Sarah Jane Tribble

More than half of seniors choose private Medicare Advantage plans instead of traditional Medicare. As rural enrollment increases, many small-town hospitals say that threatens their viability.

Governor Cooper signs Medicaid expansion

Health & Safety

What expanded Medicaid does and does not mean for North Carolinians

5:01pm March 31, 2023

by David Ford

This week, North Carolina became the fortieth state to expand Medicaid through the Affordable Care Act. House Bill 76 is projected to increase coverage to hundreds of thousands of people and pave the way for billions of dollars in federal government support.

Queue Listen Now

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.

Health & Safety

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

12:03pm August 16, 2022

by 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.

Health & Safety

Rural NC hospitals struggling to find workers

4:27pm April 28, 2022

by Paul Garber

Some smaller hospitals are facing staff shortages that have caused administrators to change the way they provide care, speakers at a virtual town hall on the state of rural health care in North Car

Medical workers with 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.

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

10:16am May 04, 2021

by 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.

Queue Listen Now

Saint Luke's Hospital of Kansas City is one of the 18 hospitals in the Saint Luke's Health System. Two-thirds of the COVID-19 patients transferred to Saint Luke's from rural areas need intensive care. "We get the sickest of the sick," says Dr. Marc Larsen

Rural Areas Send Their Sickest Patients To The Cities, Straining Hospital Capacity

9:40pm November 23, 2020

by Alex Smith

In Kansas City, hospitals are treating local COVID-19 patients as well as patients transferred from rural counties in Missouri and Kansas, where there's no mandate or culture for wearing masks.