Pennsylvania Resources
Rural Snapshot: Pennsylvania Health Care Providers and Facilities
Provides statistics with breakdowns by urban and rural areas on numbers of Pennsylvania medical doctors, healthcare professionals, and mental health professionals; percent of healthcare and social service workers ages 55 or older; and hospital beds per 1,000 residents. Includes a county-level map showing locations and numbers of various types of Pennsylvania health care facilities, with shadings indicating rural or urban counties.
Date: 2021
Sponsoring organization: Center for Rural Pennsylvania
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Provides statistics with breakdowns by urban and rural areas on numbers of Pennsylvania medical doctors, healthcare professionals, and mental health professionals; percent of healthcare and social service workers ages 55 or older; and hospital beds per 1,000 residents. Includes a county-level map showing locations and numbers of various types of Pennsylvania health care facilities, with shadings indicating rural or urban counties.
Date: 2021
Sponsoring organization: Center for Rural Pennsylvania
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Disrupting Disparities in Pennsylvania: Retooling for Geographic, Racial and Ethnic Growth
White paper examining geographic and racial/ethnic disparities in Pennsylvania along key health indicators, based on interviews with key stakeholders, a literature review, and analyses of databases on the health of Pennsylvanians. Includes sections on telehealth, broadband access as a social determinant of health, and challenges of aging in rural areas. Features demographics and statistics on prevalence of chronic diseases and maps showing Pennsylvania rural counties and Health Professional Shortage Areas and Medically Underserved Areas.
Author(s): Rose Ann DiMaria-Ghalili, Angela Foreshaw-Rouse, Martha C. Coates, et al.
Date: 2021
Sponsoring organizations: AARP, Drexel University College of Nursing and Health Professions
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White paper examining geographic and racial/ethnic disparities in Pennsylvania along key health indicators, based on interviews with key stakeholders, a literature review, and analyses of databases on the health of Pennsylvanians. Includes sections on telehealth, broadband access as a social determinant of health, and challenges of aging in rural areas. Features demographics and statistics on prevalence of chronic diseases and maps showing Pennsylvania rural counties and Health Professional Shortage Areas and Medically Underserved Areas.
Author(s): Rose Ann DiMaria-Ghalili, Angela Foreshaw-Rouse, Martha C. Coates, et al.
Date: 2021
Sponsoring organizations: AARP, Drexel University College of Nursing and Health Professions
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Pennsylvania Oral Health Plan 2020-2030
Describes how efforts, resources, and interests can be combined to strengthen the capacity in Pennsylvania to prevent oral disease and help people achieve a lifetime of good oral health and general health. Includes a section on underserved populations, and mentions rural throughout.
Date: 08/2020
Sponsoring organization: Pennsylvania Department of Health
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Describes how efforts, resources, and interests can be combined to strengthen the capacity in Pennsylvania to prevent oral disease and help people achieve a lifetime of good oral health and general health. Includes a section on underserved populations, and mentions rural throughout.
Date: 08/2020
Sponsoring organization: Pennsylvania Department of Health
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Behavioral Health Care System Capacity in Pennsylvania and Its Impact on Hospital Emergency Departments and Patient Health
An assessment of Pennsylvania's behavioral health needs and the impact that the behavioral healthcare system's capacity has on hospital emergency departments and patient health. Examines the effect of provider shortages, the role of first responders, emergency response models, and efforts to expand telehealth. Mentions rural throughout.
Author(s): Yvonne Llewellyn Hursh, Bryan W. DeWalt, Allison N. Kobzowicz, et al.
Date: 07/2020
Sponsoring organization: Joint State Government Commission, General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
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An assessment of Pennsylvania's behavioral health needs and the impact that the behavioral healthcare system's capacity has on hospital emergency departments and patient health. Examines the effect of provider shortages, the role of first responders, emergency response models, and efforts to expand telehealth. Mentions rural throughout.
Author(s): Yvonne Llewellyn Hursh, Bryan W. DeWalt, Allison N. Kobzowicz, et al.
Date: 07/2020
Sponsoring organization: Joint State Government Commission, General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
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Pennsylvania Hospital Transitions HRSA-Funded Program to Online Services and Addresses COVID-19 Stress
Features Butler Memorial Hospital and how it adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic. Highlights the switch to online delivery for a chronic disease project funded by a HRSA Rural Health Care Services Outreach grant. Also describes initiatives to address healthcare workforce stress, help patients use tablets to visit with loved ones, and distribute healthy food to the community.
Author(s): Allee Mead
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 07/2020
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Features Butler Memorial Hospital and how it adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic. Highlights the switch to online delivery for a chronic disease project funded by a HRSA Rural Health Care Services Outreach grant. Also describes initiatives to address healthcare workforce stress, help patients use tablets to visit with loved ones, and distribute healthy food to the community.
Author(s): Allee Mead
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 07/2020
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Pennsylvania Mental Health Care Workforce Shortage: Challenges and Solutions: A Staff Study
Provides a discussion of mental healthcare workforce occupations and examines the factors that led to shortages in these fields. Describes how telemedicine can be used to extend the mental healthcare workforce in rural Pennsylvania and determines how state government entities can encourage more people to enter and remain in the mental healthcare workforce. Makes recommendations including increasing the number of psychiatric residencies in rural areas and designating more Rural Health Clinics. Includes a county-level map of Mental Health Professional Shortage Areas.
Author(s): Grant Rosul, Stephen J. Kramer, Wendy L. Baker
Date: 06/2020
Sponsoring organization: Joint State Government Commission, General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
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Provides a discussion of mental healthcare workforce occupations and examines the factors that led to shortages in these fields. Describes how telemedicine can be used to extend the mental healthcare workforce in rural Pennsylvania and determines how state government entities can encourage more people to enter and remain in the mental healthcare workforce. Makes recommendations including increasing the number of psychiatric residencies in rural areas and designating more Rural Health Clinics. Includes a county-level map of Mental Health Professional Shortage Areas.
Author(s): Grant Rosul, Stephen J. Kramer, Wendy L. Baker
Date: 06/2020
Sponsoring organization: Joint State Government Commission, General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
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Evaluation of Senior Community Centers in Rural and Urban Pennsylvania
Report evaluates Pennsylvania's senior community centers in both rural and urban areas. Details some of the services offered by senior community centers and features county level data.
Additional links: Executive Summary
Author(s): Janet Ann Melnick, Morgan Silfies, Heather Shanks-McElroy, Emily McElroy
Date: 03/2020
Sponsoring organization: Center for Rural Pennsylvania
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Report evaluates Pennsylvania's senior community centers in both rural and urban areas. Details some of the services offered by senior community centers and features county level data.
Additional links: Executive Summary
Author(s): Janet Ann Melnick, Morgan Silfies, Heather Shanks-McElroy, Emily McElroy
Date: 03/2020
Sponsoring organization: Center for Rural Pennsylvania
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Serving Rural America: Health Insurance Providers at Work
Offers 5 case studies to showcase the ways in which health insurance providers are working to ensure access to high quality healthcare in rural areas. Examples feature 8 insurance providers in Maryland, Pennsylvania, California, and Oregon sharing different approaches to healthcare delivery, financing, and community engagement.
Date: 09/2019
Sponsoring organization: AHIP
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Offers 5 case studies to showcase the ways in which health insurance providers are working to ensure access to high quality healthcare in rural areas. Examples feature 8 insurance providers in Maryland, Pennsylvania, California, and Oregon sharing different approaches to healthcare delivery, financing, and community engagement.
Date: 09/2019
Sponsoring organization: AHIP
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Medicaid: Efforts to Identify, Predict, or Manage High-Expenditure Beneficiaries
Describes strategies used in 7 states to manage beneficiaries' healthcare costs while ensuring quality care, and lists resources the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services provides to help states identify, predict, and manage high-expenditure beneficiaries. Discusses effects of social determinants of health and staff shortages in rural areas. Includes statistics for Medicaid expenditures among beneficiaries enrolled only in Medicaid, for fiscal years 2009-2011.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 08/2019
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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Describes strategies used in 7 states to manage beneficiaries' healthcare costs while ensuring quality care, and lists resources the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services provides to help states identify, predict, and manage high-expenditure beneficiaries. Discusses effects of social determinants of health and staff shortages in rural areas. Includes statistics for Medicaid expenditures among beneficiaries enrolled only in Medicaid, for fiscal years 2009-2011.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 08/2019
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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Broadband Availability and Access in Rural Pennsylvania
Report details broadband access in rural Pennsylvania. Discussed broadband speed and the role it plays in rural telehealth services. Features a literature review and policy recommendations.
Author(s): Sascha D. Meinrath, Hannah Bonestroo, Georgia Bullen, et al.
Date: 06/2019
Sponsoring organization: Center for Rural Pennsylvania
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Report details broadband access in rural Pennsylvania. Discussed broadband speed and the role it plays in rural telehealth services. Features a literature review and policy recommendations.
Author(s): Sascha D. Meinrath, Hannah Bonestroo, Georgia Bullen, et al.
Date: 06/2019
Sponsoring organization: Center for Rural Pennsylvania
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Additional resources are available. See a full list of Pennsylvania Resources.
Last Updated: 2/25/2025