Report provides in-depth look at rural health care issues

"More than 80 rural hospitals have shuttered since 2010 and hundreds more are in danger. Millions of patients are at risk of being without a community hospital and providers in metropolitan areas could see an influx of patients with significant, untreated conditions," Modern Healthcare reports in its introduction to a six-part package called "Rethinking Rural Healthcare", which provides an in-depth the state of rural health care in the United States.

In "Reinventing a Hospital," Alex Kacik recounts the struggles of Guadalupe County Hospital in Santa Rosa, New Mexico, and how it has had to innovate to stay open. 

In "Rethinking Partnerships," Kacik zeroes in on L.V. Stabler Memorial Hospital in Greenville, Alabama to illustrate how financially struggling small-town hospitals are increasingly seeking affiliations with larger hospitals to stay afloat.

In "Refocusing on the Population" Steven Ross Johnson examines how the shift toward population health management puts additional financial pressures on struggling rural health providers.

In "Reexamining Policy," Harris Meyer digs into how "policy disagreements, resistance from rural providers and communities, and opposition to new spending could slow progress in addressing the rural healthcare crisis."

In "Rebuilding a Community," Shelby Livingston illustrates what happens to a rural Tennessee town when its only hospital closes down. 

The report also includes supplemental content:

• How the growth of telehealth improves continuity of care
• How rural hospitals address the root causes of the opioid crisis
• An editorial about how the trust between communities and rural providers is crucial
• How a new mobile app that schedules healthcare workers could mitigate staffing challenges