rural hospitals

Texas rural hospitals are in a struggle to stay open.In the last decade, 14 rural hospitals have closed down. Of the 156 rural hospitals currently in the state, about 70% have lost services, and more than half are at risk of closing. Federal cuts to Medicaid, Medicare and Affordable Care Act coverage are expected to significantly increase the uninsured rate in Texas and could cause more rural hospitals to shutter. What’s being done to keep these vital lifelines open?

President Trump and the Republican controlled congress are planning deep cuts to Medicaid to help cover the cost of $4.5 billion in tax breaks. This could knock off over 8 million people from Medicaid and reduce services for millions more. Texas rural hospitals will be especially hit hard along with Texas new mothers and children.

The U.S. already faced shortages in its health care workforce, then the pandemic spurred even more doctors and nurses to retire or leave hospital jobs. Filling those vacancies is a challenge.

A drone operated by an Australian company touched down in Presidio this month.

Dollar General's primary care experiment could help solve rural America's care shortage. But it's getting a chilly reception in Tennessee.

Texas has had 24 rural hospital closures since 2005, the most in the country, and the problem is being felt by the most vulnerable.

American Public Media Research Lab data shows that 24 rural hospitals have closed in Texas since 2005 — the most of any state in the U.S.

Texas’s primary care doctor shortage has taken a sharp turn for the worse during the pandemic, and one rural family doctor is pleading with state lawmakers to do something about it.

Bigger hospitals in Texas have received shipments of the Pfizer vaccine. Those facilities have the bulk of COVID-19 patients, as many rural hospitals don’t have intensive care units, and generally transfer their critical patients to the larger care centers. But the smaller, “critical access” hospitals are dealing with COVID-19 patients, too.

From Texas Standard : Rural hospitals in Texas face many challenges to staying in business, even when they aren't having to manage the effects of a...