Category: rural medicine

Rural Ambulance Services Are in Jeopardy as Volunteers Age and Expenses Mount

Experts say rural communities must find new models to keep emergency services afloat as more 911 calls go unanswered.

With Roots in Civil Rights, Community Health Centers Push for Equity in the Pandemic

Community health centers were born in the 1960s to reach low-income communities. But some rural health experts say federally qualified health centers were a missing piece in achieving early equity in the vaccine rollout.

What the Slowing Vaccine Rates Mean for One Rural Montana County

In one northwestern Montana county where demand for covid vaccines is dropping well before widespread immunity is reached, people are split on whether the virus is a threat.

Riding Herd on Mental Health in Colorado Ranching Country

Lack of access and infrastructure, stigma and isolation intensify a mental health crisis in agricultural communities.

In Appalachia and the Mississippi Delta, Millions Face Long Drives to Stroke Care

Across Appalachia and the Mississippi Delta, where death rates from stroke are above the national average, routing patients from rural areas to the right level of care can be an intricate jigsaw puzzle. The closest hospital might not offer the full scope of stroke treatments, but hospitals with more advanced care could be hours away.

‘It Didn’t Really Stick With Me’: Understanding the Rural Shrug Over Covid and Vaccines

Fort Scott, Kansas, was hit hard by the pandemic, and it no longer has a hospital. But residents remain skeptical about the impact of the coronavirus.

To Vaccinate Veterans, Health Care Workers Must Cross Mountains, Plains and Tundra

Veterans Affairs officials are flying COVID-19 vaccines to remote locations in Montana and Alaska to quickly inoculate rural veterans before the drugs expire.

Rural Hospital Remains Entrenched in Covid ‘War’ Even Amid Vaccine Rollout

Louisiana’s St. James Parish Hospital thought the vaccine would mean the end of its long covid fight. Then the ICU beds surrounding them ran out.

California’s Rural Counties Endure a Deadly Covid Winter

In the past two months, covid-related infection and death rates have jumped exponentially in California’s least populated counties. The winter surge has scarred corners of the state that went largely unscathed for much of 2020.

4 Vital Health Issues — Not Tied to Covid — That Congress Addressed in Massive Spending Bill

Lawmakers answered pleas from strained health facilities in rural areas, agreed to cover the cost of training more new doctors, sought to strengthen efforts to equalize mental health coverage with that of physical medicine and instructed the federal government to collect data that could be used to rein in high medical bills.