By Arielle Zionts and Sarah Jane Tribble – In Maine, state health officials hoped to steer a slice of $190 million in new federal rural health funding to shield hospitals and clinics from the fallout caused by cuts to federal health programs. Their plan would have helped pay to treat low-income, uninsured patients.
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By Aaron Bolton and Arielle Zionts – The emergency department at Big Sandy Medical Center is one room with a single curtain between two beds. It’s one of the many parts of the 25-bed rural hospital that need updating, former CEO Ron Wiens said.
By Arielle Zionts and Sarah Jane Tribble – In the final days of 2025, governors around the country trumpeted the hundreds of millions of federal dollars they won from a new, $50 billion rural health fund. But plans to spend those nine-digit awards aren’t all warmly received.
By Sarah Jane Tribble, Arielle Zionts, & Maia Rosenfeld – In late December, President Donald Trump’s administration announced how much all 50 states would get under its new Rural Health Transformation Program, assigning them to use the money to fix systemic problems that leave rural Americans without access to good health care. Now, the clock is ticking.
By Sarah Jane Tribble & Arielle Zionts – Echo Kopplin wants South Dakota’s leaders to know that money from a new $50 billion federal rural health fund should help residents with limited transportation options. Kopplin, a physician assistant who works with seniors, low-income people, and mental health patients in the rural Black Hills, shared her thoughts at a meeting hosted by state officials.
By Arielle Zionts – Rural hospital leaders are questioning whether they can continue to afford to do business with Medicare Advantage companies, and some say the only way to maintain services and protect patients is to end their contracts with the private insurers.
By Arielle Zionts – Rural America has a shortage of health care providers. The Indian Health Service, which serves Indigenous patients in mostly rural areas, has also struggled to recruit and retain staff. Rural residents make up about 14% of the U.S. population but fewer than 5% of incoming medical students, according to a study of 2017 data.