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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Closures of healthcare facilities and services

Science by the Slice: Rural Community Health Science, Policy, and the Future: Episode 2
Video podcast episode highlighting the 2024 State of the Science Meeting from the Southeastern Coastal Center for Agricultural Health and Safety featuring 2 speakers at the meeting. Discusses disparities in healthcare access for rural and urban residents including facility closures, access to specialty care, and local leadership. Transcript available in the video description.
Date: 10/2024
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organization: Southeastern Coastal Center for Agricultural Health and Safety
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Final Report of the Rural Texas Obstetrics Study
Uses data analysis, interviews, and surveys to report on rural obstetrics access issues in Texas. Discusses facility closures, distance to care, provider shortages, reimbursements, and healthcare quality. Offers an analysis of 15 facilities that closed OB departments to understand potential drivers of closures. Email address required to access report.
Date: 09/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Stroudwater Associates
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Innovations in Rural Obstetrics to Maintain Access to Care
Discusses closures of rural hospitals and labor and delivery services and the impact on maternity care access. Provides examples of 6 approaches to sustain obstetric care: partnerships, community-centered care, quality initiatives, culturally competent care, rural workforce development, and maternity care as an equity issue.
Author(s): Mary Louise Gilburg, Morgan McDonald, Erin E. Sullivan
Date: 09/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Milbank Memorial Fund
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Information for Rural Stakeholders About Access to Maternity and Obstetric Care: A Community-Relevant Synthesis of Research
Provides an overview of access to maternity and obstetric care in rural areas, including access to care, childbirth at rural hospitals, and rural obstetric unit closures. Summarizes research findings on healthcare quality and outcomes at low-volume obstetric units, risks associated with rural obstetric unit closures, and challenges faced by communities without hospital-based obstetric care. Describes clinical and policy efforts to improve access and quality of care for birthing people and their families in rural communities with low-volume obstetric units or lack access to hospital-based obstetric care.
Author(s): Katy B. Kozhimannil, Julia D. Interrante, Alyssa H. Fritz, et al.
Date: 09/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center
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Where and What Separates Rural from Urban Hospital Closures?
A brief report that compares characteristics of rural and metro hospital closures. Utilizes 2010-2021 American Hospital Association Annual Survey data to examine rural versus metro hospital closures by hospital bed size, hospital type, accreditation status, location in Medicaid expansion state, and more.
Author(s): Sara D. Turbow, Jennifer Lom, Mohammed K. Ali
Citation: Journal of Hospital Medicine, 19(9), 812-815
Date: 09/2024
Type: Document
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Access to Care Report
Infographic highlighting access challenges for nursing homes between 2020 and 2024. Includes data on facility downsizing and closures, supply, and rural nursing home deserts.
Date: 08/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: American Health Care Association
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The State of Health in Tennessee: 2024 Annual Report to the 113th Tennessee General Assembly
Assesses the health status of Tennesseans across the four areas of the State Health Plan Framework: A Healthy Start, A Healthy Life, a Healthy Environment, and a Healthy System of Care. Includes a section on social determinants of health and features statistics on various populations and aspects of healthcare, including rural hospital closures.
Additional links: A Healthy Environment: Housing, A Healthy Life: Income and Poverty, A Healthy Start: Poverty & Food Insecurity, A Healthy System of Care: Access
Date: 08/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Tennessee Department of Health
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Rural Health in Indiana: Challenges and Strategies
Presentation slides that provide an overview of rural health in Indiana, along with challenges and the strategies to overcome them. Focuses on rural versus urban data on workforce shortages, hospital closures, access to various services, school-based health, and more, with comparative information on the state and national level.
Author(s): Sierra Vaughn
Date: 08/2024
Type: Presentation Slides
Sponsoring organization: Bowen Center for Health Workforce Research and Policy
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MedPAC Data Book: Health Care Spending and the Medicare Program, 2024
Provides an overview of Medicare spending and highlights data on Medicare beneficiary demographics, dual-eligible beneficiaries, quality of care provided through the Medicare program, and other payer liability. Examines settings of care, including rural-specific provider sites, as they relate to spending, access to care, and profit margins. Compares rural and urban beneficiaries and providers throughout. Chart 6-2 addresses rural hospital closures.
Date: 07/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Loss of Hospital-Based Obstetric Services in Rural Counties in the United States, 2010-2022
Infographic displaying data on the loss of hospital-based obstetric services in rural counties between 2010 and 2022. Compares changes in in-county hospital-based obstetric care by rural county type - micropolitan versus noncore - using data from the 2010-2022 American Hospital Association (AHA) Annual Surveys, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Provider of Services File, and the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Area Health Resources File.
Author(s): Katy B. Kozhimannil, Julia D. Interrante, Alyssa H. Fritz, Emily C. Sheffield
Date: 07/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center
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