rural hospitals

On "Florida Matters: Live & Local," Mayhew discussed the plight of DeSoto Memorial, the challenges and benefits remote hospitals present and how mergers with larger systems can be a lifeline.

Guests include the Florida Hospital Association's Mary Mayhew and U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor. The topics: saving small-town hospitals, real impacts of government gridlock and Clearwater’s inclusive mission.

Facing with an uncertain financial landscape for rural hospitals, the hospital board voted to hear competing presentations from Tampa General Hospital, AdventHealth and NorthStar.

Calhoun Liberty in Blountstown is a keystone hospital, meaning it's the only facility for 30 miles. Hurricane Michael damaged the previous building in 2018, leaving it operating at a reduced capacity for years.

A legislative effort to expand access to prenatal care in rural Oregon with mobile clinics was scuttled because those clinics would have provided abortions in rural areas.

These hospitals receive more than $3 million in federal money a year., but the catch is there are zero inpatient beds. .The Florida Legislature recently passed a bill that to create a category of “rural emergency hospitals" and help keep facilities open.

Many hospitals are shuttering their obstetrics units because insurance and Medicaid aren't reimbursing enough to cover the cost of births, the report notes.

The expansion of Catholic hospitals nationwide leaves patients at the mercy of the church’s religious directives, which are often at odds with accepted medical standards.

Under the measures, facilities designated as rural emergency hospitals could provide emergency services, observation care and outpatient services that do not exceed an average length of stay of 24 hours.

The goal of the bill is to ensure that hospitals in underserved rural areas can remain open, a lawmaker said.

Experts say the lack of help available to rural Americans in navigating insurance options puts them at greater risk of losing health coverage than people in metropolitan areas.

Advocates for improving rural health pushed for the CDC to extend its rural health focus. They hope the Office of Rural Health will commit to research and provide analyses that lead to good policies.