Skip to main content
Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Healthcare facilities

The New Rural Emergency Hospital Designation Program: Will It Improve Access to Care for Rural Americans?
Discusses rural hospital closures and the potential impact of the Rural Emergency Hospital (REH) designation. Provides U.S. maps showing Medicaid Expansion states and rural hospital closures as well as data specific to REHs in Texas.
Author(s): Suzanne B. Daly, Wei You, Elizabeth I. Merwin
Citation: Journal of Rural Health, 41(4)
Date: 10/2025
view details
Doing More With Less: Turning Efficient Cybersecurity Into Savings In Rural Healthcare
Recording of an October 7, 2025, webinar regarding cybersecurity threats, how to proactively address these threats, and how to limit their impact. Part of the Rural Health Clinic Technical Assistance Series.
Additional links: Presentation Slides
Date: 10/2025
Sponsoring organization: National Association of Rural Health Clinics
view details
2025 Cybersecurity Year in Review, Part One: Breaches and Defensive Measures
Provides an overview of cybersecurity issues currently impacting the healthcare field. Describes recent patterns in reported cyberattacks and identifies cybersecurity practices for prevention and mitigation. Discusses the need for healthcare facilities to understand their cyber risk exposure.
Author(s): John Riggi, Scott Gee
Date: 10/2025
Sponsoring organization: American Hospital Association
view details
Health Industry Cybersecurity Sector Mapping and Risk Toolkit (SMART)
Provides templates and methodologies for healthcare providers, insurance plans, and manufacturers to map and identify systemic cybersecurity risks posed by third party technology, software, and communications services. Includes considerations for small and rural healthcare organizations.
Date: 10/2025
Sponsoring organization: Health Sector Coordinating Council (HSCC) Cybersecurity Working Group
view details
How States Can Boost Behavioral Health Services in Rural Communities
Explores ways state officials can utilize federal funds to increase mental health and substance use treatment for rural communities. Highlights strategies for increasing access to behavioral health services in rural communities that can be funded through the Rural Health Transformation (RHT) Program.
Author(s): Alexandra Duncan, Kristen Mizzi Angelone
Date: 10/2025
Sponsoring organization: Pew Research Center
view details
Pennsylvania Common Procedures Report 2024
Provides information about the performance and utilization of Pennsylvania hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers for spinal fusion, total hip replacement, and total knee replacement, using data from October 2023 through September 2024. Includes hospitalization rates for each procedure by urban and rural areas, among other breakdowns.
Additional links: Summary and Highlights
Date: 10/2025
Sponsoring organization: Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council
view details
Dental Care in Crisis: Tracking the Cost and Prevalence of Emergency Department Visits for Non-Traumatic Dental Conditions
Report explores non-traumatic emergency department visits for dental conditions. Tracks the cost and prevalence of incidents from 2019 to 2022. Includes a breakdown of incidents in rural, small or medium metro, fringe metro, and central metro counties.
Date: 10/2025
Sponsoring organization: CareQuest Institute for Oral Health
view details
Comparing Disaster-Related Surge Staffing Practices Across Rural and Non-Rural Nursing Homes
Explores whether rural and non-rural nursing homes implemented different disaster-related staffing approaches. Analyzes data from 361 CMS-certified nursing homes that were exposed to the direct path of Hurricane Michael in 2018. Compares the change in pre- and post-disaster staffing across three dimensions of nursing home staffing: intensity, licensure composition, and employment composition.
Citation: Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 73(12), 3829-3835
Date: 09/2025
view details
Critical Access Hospital: 2026 National Patient Safety Goals
Identifies National Patient Safety Goals for the Joint Commission's Critical Access Hospital Accreditation Program. Covers emergency management, infection prevention, pain management and safe prescribing practices, suicide prevention, workplace and patient safety, and more. Effective January 1, 2026.
Additional links: Simplified Version
Date: 09/2025
Sponsoring organization: Joint Commission
view details
Tribal Health Facilities in Arizona
Map of Arizona's tribal health facilities, including Indian Health Service hospitals and clinics, tribally-operated hospitals and clinics, and Urban Indian Health Programs (UIHP).
Date: 09/2025
Sponsoring organizations: Arizona Advisory Council on Indian Health Care, Arizona Center for Rural Health
view details