rural health

Greta Elliott, who manages a health clinic in Canby, Calif., says she didn't buy health insurance for herself because she thinks it's too expensive.

In A Conservative Corner Of California, A Push To Preserve Obamacare

4:29pm July 05, 2017

by April Dembosky

A coalition of health clinics in northeast California is asking local officials to defend the Affordable Care Act. And some are, despite the area's conservative politics.

Hugo, Colo., is home to no more than 850 residents, but has a beloved hospital where staff members know most of their patients by name. To survive financially, the hospital depends on payments from Medicaid, a program that faces deep cuts in the GOP healt

A Hospital In Rural Colorado Is The Cornerstone Of Small Town Life

7:52am July 01, 2017

by John Daley

At the lone hospital in Hugo, a country town, staff members know most of the patients — they are friends and family. But cuts in the GOP health bill could threaten this cherished institution.

Coal and steel jobs were once plentiful in Steubenville, Ohio. Today, the local hospital is the top employer in the county.

After Decline Of Steel And Coal, Ohio Fears Health Care Jobs Are Next

11:33pm June 26, 2017

Health care jobs now outnumber manufacturing jobs in Jefferson County, Ohio. Hospital administrators worry that Republican plans to cut Medicaid will lead to layoffs.

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McMahan pays a house call on a Tlingit elder named Evelyn Hotch, who is bedridden after a stroke.

In Rural Alaska, A Young Doctor Walks To His Patient's Bedside

6:52pm May 13, 2017

by Melissa Block

Dr. Adam McMahan comes to Klukwan, a tiny town in Southeast Alaska, just two days a week. But he's come to know his patients well, and attends to more than just their medical needs.

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Dr. Farooq Habib (left) and Dr. Muhammad Tauseef share an office at Los Barrios Unidos Community Clinic in Dallas. They're both from Pakistan and have both worked as pediatricians in medically underserved areas in the U.S.

Trump Travel Ban Spotlights U.S. Dependence On Foreign-Born Doctors

5:50am February 11, 2017

by Lauren Silverman

A quarter of doctors practicing in the U.S. went to medical school elsewhere. Many of these physicians practice in parts of this country that the government says need more primary care providers.

Melissa Morris outside her home in Sterling, Colo. She quit using heroin in 2012, and now relies on the drug Suboxone to stay clean. She's also been helping to find treatment for some of the neighbors she used to sell drugs to.

Rural Colorado's Opioid Connections Might Hold Clues To Better Treatment

5:14pm January 23, 2017

by Luke Runyon

Opioid abuse is rising fast among those who live in rural areas. Research suggests the drugs' illicit use there spreads rapidly via social networks, which could be part of the solution, too.

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Grace Hospital in Morganton, N.C., was funded in part by the Hill-Burton Act. Construction began in 1969.

A Bygone Era: When Bipartisanship Led To Health Care Transformation

6:00am October 02, 2016

by John Henning Schumann

A federal law enacted shortly after the end of World War II provided grants and loans to fund hospital construction that have left a lasting legacy.

Most women get prenatal care from the doctor they expect will deliver the baby, which can make it difficult if the doctor and hospital are far away.

More Rural Hospitals Are Closing Their Maternity Units

11:37am February 24, 2016

by Michelle Andrews

Facilities for delivering babies are expensive to run and hard to staff. But when small rural hospitals close their birthing units, pregnant women must travel much farther for care.

Amy Thomson holds 2-month-old Isla in Seattle Children's Hospital in early 2014. When the Thomson family learned Isla's heart was failing, they took an air ambulance from Butte, Mont., to Seattle to get medical care.

Lifesaving Flights Can Come With Life-Changing Bills

10:34pm January 18, 2016

by Corin Cates-Carney

People in big, sparsely populated states like Montana rely on air ambulances to get to medical specialists they need. But the lifesaving flights can be hugely expensive and not covered by insurance.

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Mendocino, Calif., lures vacationing tourists and retirees. But the lone hospital on this remote stretch of coast, in nearby Fort Bragg, is struggling financially.

Mendocino Coast Fights To Keep Its Lone Hospital Afloat

7:01pm November 23, 2015

by April Dembosky

Tourists love California's Mendocino coast for its redwoods, surf and charm. But the battle to keep the area's only hospital afloat is pitting hospital administrators and doctors against each other.

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