Rural Health Care Leadership Conference News Coverage

35th Annual AHA Rural Health Care Leadership Conference. February 6-9, 2022. Arizona Grand Resort and Spa.

The American Hospital Association’s 2022 Rural Health Care Leadership Conference, February 6-9, Phoenix, AZ, brings together top practitioners and thinkers to share strategies and resources for accelerating the shift to a more integrated and sustainable rural health system. We’ll examine the most significant operational, financial and environmental challenges including the post-pandemic impact on rural hospitals and their communities, and present innovative approaches that will enable you to transform your organization’s care delivery model and business practices.

Couldn’t attend AHA’s 2022 Rural Health Care Leadership Conference? No problem. Follow along here for updates, and follow along on social media using hashtag #AHARuralHealth for more.

 

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In this podcast, three leaders from rural health care systems agree that every community must find its own unique way to maximize new partnerships and affiliations while maintaining the best possible care for patients.
In a letter August 1 to House and Senate sponsors, the AHA and 48 other national associations voiced strong support for the Conrad State 30 and Physician Access Reauthorization Act (H.R. 4942/S. 665), bipartisan legislation that would extend for three years the Conrad State 30 program, which allows states to request J-1 visa waivers for foreign physicians to work in federally designated shortage and underserved areas.
Kevin Barnett, senior investigator with the Public Health Institute and board member for Trinity Health, discusses how rural providers with finite resources can bridge the gap between clinical care and community population health, while also improving health equity.
The Health Resources and Services Administration yesterday awarded 15 organizations up to $750,000 each to establish residency programs in rural communities.
Reps. Derek Kilmer, D-Wash., and Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, introduced bipartisan legislation that would make permanent a U.S. Department of Agriculture program that provides rural hospitals with technical assistance to prevent closures, strengthen essential health care services, and improve financial and operational performance.
The CEO of Titus Regional Medical Center in rural Texas shares how strong community bonds and personal relationships work to drive community health improvement, wherever you live.
Rural hospital leadership teams are encouraged to apply through Aug. 31 for this AHA award honoring outstanding leadership and responsiveness to community health needs through collaboration and innovation.
Anson (Texas) General Hospital CEO Ted Matthews and chief nursing officer Anna Doan discuss how the Rural Emergency Hospital designation has worked for the hospital so far and what the local patient population thinks about the change.
Mackinac Straits Health System was in dire financial straits, operating on only a few days of cash reserves. President and CEO Karen Cheeseman explains how the health system turned things around thanks to strategic planning and critical investments from community partners.
By understanding the attitudes and beliefs that drive patient behavior, health care organizations “can design messaging that promotes positive health outcomes, including messages deployed during a public health emergency,” writes Erin Fogarty, health education and marketing director for the Livingston County Health Department in Pontiac, Ill.
The shortage of behavioral health care professionals is a serious public health issue, particularly in rural areas. In rural Iowa, some care providers have found successful new pathways to recruit, train and retain behavioral health specialists. 
During a roundtable live-streamed this week from Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, CEOs from Dartmouth Health, Maine Health and The University of Vermont Health Network discussed the crisis facing the nation’s rural hospitals and health systems, from workforce shortages to inflation and payer and regulatory concerns.  
Hear how the results of a community health needs assessment in Hardeman County, Tennessee, spurred local hospitals to tackle food insecurity with innovative new approaches.
Congress should support flexible payment options and update reimbursement rates to help rural hospitals overcome the challenges that threaten access to care in rural communities, the AHA told the Senate Finance Subcommittee on Health Care in a statement submitted for a hearing May 17 on the issue.
AHA urged leaders of the House (LINK) and Senate (LINK) Appropriations Subcommittees on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education to give favorable funding consideration in fiscal year 2024 to health care programs shown to improve access to quality health care for patients and communities.  
Rural hospitals, which deliver about one in 10 babies nationally each year, have been closing in significant numbers. Despite the challenging environment, rural hospitals and health systems are taking traditional and innovative approaches to build or expand their maternal health programs.
Sen. Roger Marshall, M.D., R-Kan., opened the federal forum closing plenary by running down a list of concerns facing hospitals in his home state, and the value of the rural emergency hospital model to support remote communities. 
Rural hospital advocates, CEOs and other leaders share their planning, implementation and innovations in this shifting environment.
The Rural Health Redesign Center helps interested critical access hospitals and rural hospitals with 50 or fewer beds transition to Medicare’s new Rural Emergency Hospital designation. Learn more about the designation and its payment implications in this podcast from AHA’s special series on rural care providers.