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 marking Mental Health Awareness Month, Shane McGuire, CEO of Columbia County Health System in Dayton, Wash., discusses the hospital district’s collaborative work with the University of Washington’s psychiatry program and its Advancing Integrated Mental Health Center, which focuses on creating care models between primary care providers and their mental health care counterparts.
In this first of two AHA podcasts on rebuilding maternity services at critical access hospitals, officials from the UNC School of Medicine at Chapel Hill and Chatham Hospital UNC Health Care at Siler City, N.C., discuss the strategic need and clinical case for maternity services at their small, rural community.
Health care and other organizations can apply through June 4 for up to $1 million a year for four years to test a network approach to improving maternal health access and outcomes in rural regions.
AHA’s Future of Rural Health Care Task Force has released a report with recommendations for long-range solutions for improving rural health and health care in America.
COVID-19 vaccination coverage was about 7 percentage points lower in rural counties than in urban counties as of April 10, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported today.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Health Resources and Services Administration should disaggregate and analyze maternal health data for rural and underserved communities, and adjust maternal health program efforts to meet the needs in those communities, the Government Accountability Office said in a report.
As a rural provider, Sioux Falls, S.D.-based Avera Behavioral Health sees a high rate of suicide and drug overdoses. To help manage these cases, Avera created a full suite of behavioral health care services, including a comprehensive eCARE telehealth solution delivering services in 32 states.
The Health Resources and Services Administration will provide nearly $1 billion to small rural hospitals, critical access hospitals and rural health clinics to expand COVID-19 testing and help mitigate the virus in their communities, the Department of Health and Human Services announced.
Health leaders from across the U.S. convened to discuss the unique challenges facing rural communities and providers in addressing COVID-19 vaccine administration, confidence and barriers to access. Read the AHA blog that has insights from last night’s rural COVID-19 town hall hosted by AHA and the Black Coalition Against COVID.
The AHA and Black Coalition against COVID April 21 at 7 p.m. ET will host a town hall on enhancing the opportunities for rural health care providers, public health organizations and rural health advocates as they advance COVID-19 prevention guidance, vaccine acceptance and vaccine administration. 
In this case study, AHA’s Future of Rural Health Care Task Force explores how rural hospitals can establish themselves as conveners in their communities, working alongside other stakeholders to improve health outcomes.
by Rod Hochman, M.D.
One legacy of our response to COVID-19 surely will be how it has accelerated the adoption of virtual care. It is one of the more encouraging developments during the losses of the pandemic. 
The Community Health Access and Rural Transformation Model will not seek applications from accountable care organizations until next spring, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced.
by Rod Hochman, M.D.
In this episode of Leadership Rounds, I talk with Alvin Hoover, CEO of King’s Daughters Medical Center in Brookhaven, Miss., who is serving on the front lines of rural health care.   
The AHA voiced support for the Rural America Health Corps Act (S.924), legislation that would establish a Rural America Health Corps modeled on the National Health Service Corps to encourage health care professionals to serve in rural areas. 
Reps. Tom Reed, R-N.Y., and Terri Sewell, D-Ala., introduced the Rural Hospital Support Act, AHA-supported legislation that would make permanent the Medicare-Dependent Hospital program and enhanced low-volume Medicare adjustment for small rural prospective payment system hospitals. 
Identifying the underlying factors that contribute to disparities in outcomes in vulnerable rural populations and developing strategies to address these issues remain constant challenges, but progress is being made. OSF Healthcare’s Health Equities Action Lab (HEAL) is employing a data-driven strategy to address breast cancer disparity outcomes among its Illinois patients, 65% of whom live in rural areas.
Tri-County Health Care in Wadena, Minn., experienced a cultural transformation over the past two years that significantly improved employee engagement, patient satisfaction, quality and safety, and other key operating parameters. What its leaders could not have predicted, however, was how this work also would make both the organization and hospital team members more resilient during the COVID-19 crisis and economic fallout that ensued.
Attendees of the 2021 AHA Rural Health Care Leadership Conference kicked off its second day with a virtual series of workshops.