Can the RHT initiative turn the deepening decline of rural healthcare around? Who will take on the challenges to not just spend the $50B but change the rural healthcare landscape? In the news this month is
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By Sarah Jane Tribble – Tory Starr is worried about the people who get medical care at Open Door Community Health Centers along California’s North Coast. “They’re the folks that work at restaurants. They’re the teacher’s aides,” said Starr, a registered nurse who became Open Door’s chief executive more than six years ago. Those patients, he said, are “really the heart and soul of rural America.”
Can the RHT initiative turn the deepening decline of rural healthcare around? Who will take on the challenges to not just spend the $50B but change the rural healthcare landscape? In the news this month is Ovatient, eClinicalWorks, HRSA, WebMD Ignite, BPC, AmeriTrust Solutions, and AscendRural.
Expanding nutrition services and strengthening the rural workforce will improve access to care, enhance preventive services, and reduce the burden of chronic disease.
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 Jackie Mattingly & Lance Alston – Rural hospitals are not trying to do something unique with cybersecurity. They are trying to keep care available in their communities. They are trying to protect patients. They are trying to meet rising expectations with limited staff, limited funding, and little room for operational disruption.
As states pursue Rural Health Transformation funding, five priorities keep rising to the top: telehealth, workforce stability, integrated behavioral health, stronger primary care, and the data systems needed for value‑based care. This week’s Friday at Five breaks down what these trends mean for the future of rural health.
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 Stephanie Fraser – The focus reflects growing national attention on rural care delivery, particularly following the launch of the federal Rural Health Transformation Program, a five-year, $50 billion initiative designed to help states strengthen access to care, modernize infrastructure, and stabilize rural providers.