Rural emergency hospitals: Emerging patterns of adaptation and community perception.
Purpose: Rural hospitals face persistent financial challenges that often threaten their survival. To address this, the 2023 "Rural Emergency Hospital" (REH) designation offers Critical Access Hospitals and hospitals with fewer than 50 beds enhanced Medicare reimbursement and annual facility payments...
| Published in: | Journal of Rural Health Vol. 42; no. 1; pp. 1 - 11 |
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
| Format: | research tables/charts Journal Article |
| Published: |
Wiley-Blackwell
Winter2026
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| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=192435525&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ccm uiTerm: 192435525 longDbName: CINAHL Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: dissinfo: jinfo: jid: 0890765X GUO jtl: Journal of Rural Health issn: 0890765X maglogo: Y pubinfo: dt: Winter2026 vid: 42 iid: 1 pid: 480 pub: Wiley-Blackwell place: Malden, Massachusetts artinfo: ui: 192435525 192435525 192435525 10.1111/jrh.70112 192435525 ppf: 1 ppct: 10 formats: tig: atl: Rural emergency hospitals: Emerging patterns of adaptation and community perception. aug: au: Van Sandt, Anders Line, Kaitlyn Gruber, Anja Meier, Cris Carpenter, Craig Loveridge, Scott affil: Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Colorado State University, Fort Collins Colorado,, USA sug: subj: Hospitals, Rural Emergency Service Adaptation, Psychological Organizational Change Community Health Services Attitude of Health Personnel Evaluation Human Funding Source Content Analysis Health Services Accessibility Health Facility Closure Multimethod Studies Descriptive Statistics Data Analysis Software ab: Purpose: Rural hospitals face persistent financial challenges that often threaten their survival. To address this, the 2023 "Rural Emergency Hospital" (REH) designation offers Critical Access Hospitals and hospitals with fewer than 50 beds enhanced Medicare reimbursement and annual facility payments if they discontinue inpatient services while maintaining outpatient care and a 24‐hour emergency department. This study evaluates the characteristics of hospitals that choose REH conversion and examines the perceived community impact of the change. Methods: We analyze Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services cost report data to compare converting hospitals to eligible nonconverting hospitals. We also conduct a content analysis of 33 news articles and phone interviews with local rural residents to assess how REH conversions are presented in the media and perceived in communities. Findings: Hospitals that converted to REH status had low inpatient volumes, occupancy rates, and revenues, suggesting they were positioned to benefit financially from eliminating inpatient services. Content analysis revealed that news articles were primarily neutral in tone (54.5%), with most (90%) describing the financial benefits of conversion. Interviews with rural residents highlighted negative perceptions of local health care and revealed that many preferred not to use their local REH even when available. Conclusions: REH designation may provide financial lifelines to rural hospitals with declining inpatient demand, but community skepticism and limited willingness to use REHs may constrain their role in sustaining health care access. The long‐term effectiveness of this policy may depend on addressing both financial viability and community trust in rural health care delivery. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: research tables/charts Journal Article ougenre: Article language: English refInfo: holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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