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News Articles: Rural Health

Zalmai Afzali, an internal medicine doctor in northeastern Virginia, had to complete a residency program in the U.S. after having already finished one in Afghanistan. He supports new state laws dropping such requirements for foreign-trained doctors.

Tagged as: 

  • Health

To solve for doctor shortages, states ease licensing for foreign-trained physicians

Some states are trying to make it easier for doctors trained in other countries to work in the U.S. Skeptics say other licensing and hiring barriers could hamper this effort.

March 03, 2025
|
By:
  • Arielle Zionts
Downtown Reynolds in Taylor County.

Tagged as: 

  • Health

As CDC prepares to tackle rural health, what could that mean in Georgia?

The Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released its new five-year strategic plan for the Office of Rural Health earlier this month. 

September 24, 2024
|
By:
  • Sofi Gratas
The web-based program includes an encrypted, HIPA-compliant chat and resource modules that cover breastfeeding, excercise and mental health.

Tagged as: 

  • Health

Remote monitoring has saved new moms at this rural hospital. Now they’re hoping to expand

Mom's Heart Matters out of Southeast Georgia is in its second year of implementation. 

August 15, 2024
|
By:
  • Sofi Gratas
hospital portrait

Tagged as: 

  • Health

To stay open, rural hospitals need local patients. Two hospitals in Georgia hope to bring them back

Rural hospitals sometimes look for lifelines through consolidation with big city hospitals. Now a couple of rural hospitals in Middle Georgia are trying a grassroots approach emphasizing local ownership. And, they say, it’s working. 

 

August 07, 2024
|
By:
  • Sofi Gratas
Obstetrician-gynecologist Taylar Swartz uses an ultrasound scanner to check the health of Addie Comegys' baby on May 30. Comegys, who is due in late August, had traveled 45 minutes for her prenatal appointment at Mahaska Health in Oskaloosa, one of a few rural hospitals in Iowa still offering labor and delivery services.

Tagged as: 

  • Health

As a baby bust hits rural areas, hospital labor and delivery wards are closing down

In some rural areas, births have dropped by three-quarters since the late 1950s, and hospitals are shuttering labor and delivery units, leaving mothers little access to care when they need it.

July 15, 2024
|
By:
  • Tony Leys
The Match Day ceremony at the University of California, Irvine, on March 15. Match Day is the day when medical students seeking residency and fellowship training positions find out their options. Increasingly, medical students are choosing to go to states that don't restrict abortion.

Tagged as: 

  • Health

Medical residents are starting to avoid states with abortion bans, data shows

A new analysis shows that students graduating from U.S. medical schools this year were less likely to apply for residencies across specialties in states with restrictions on abortion.

May 10, 2024
|
By:
  • Julie Rovner and
  • Rachana Pradhan
A room for primary care at the Twiggs County School District's new school-based health center. This clinic will be one of about 30 new or expanded school based health centers to be up and running over the next few years.

Tagged as: 

  • Health

Georgia is installing more health care clinics on school grounds. How has that worked so far?

A state investment of $125 million dollars from federal COVID relief funds is helping grow school-based health through grants issued by the Georgia Department of Education.

April 17, 2024
|
By:
  • Sofi Gratas
Southwest Georgia Regional Medical Center

Tagged as: 

  • Health Care

Southwest Georgia hospital could reopen with help from federal appropriations

A feasibility study underway will help decide the new model for the facility. Randolph County lost its only hospital in 2020 after decades in operation. 

April 01, 2024
|
By:
  • Sofi Gratas
Medical student Emily Hartley from Reynolds talks to her neighbors at the ribbon cutting for the Mercer Medicine clinic in Taylor County.

Tagged as: 

  • Health

After sitting empty for over a decade, a health clinic in Taylor County is opened again with help

 It’s the latest clinic to open as part of the Mercer University School of Medicine's efforts to strengthen rural health care. 

December 04, 2023
|
By:
  • Sofi Gratas
man receives a covid vaccine

Tagged as: 

  • Health

How can Georgians get the new COVID vaccine? It depends on where they live

Kinks in access to the new COVID-19 vaccine are nationwide. Rural areas will likely feel the brunt.

October 03, 2023
|
By:
  • Sofi Gratas
Osteopathic physician Kevin de Regnier of Winterset, Iowa, checks Chris Bourne, who came in for an adjustment of his anxiety medication on May 9, 2023.

Tagged as: 

  • Health

With few MDs practicing in rural areas, a different type of doctor is filling the gap

The number of doctors of osteopathy is surging, and more than half of them practice in primary care, including in rural areas hit hard by doctor shortages.

June 05, 2023
|
By:
  • Tony Leys
Students help run the Circle C Market in rural Cody, Neb., as part of classwork. As rural areas struggle to keep traditional grocery stores, some communities are finding innovative ways to keep the stores running.

Tagged as: 

  • Health

Rural grocery stores are dying. Here's how some small towns are trying to save them

When a town loses its grocery store, it also loses a local source of healthy food and a place for neighbors to gather and connect. But some communities are finding innovative ways to keep shops open.

April 19, 2023
|
By:
  • Aaron Bonderson
First-year medical students from Mercer at the press conference in Macon on Thursday.

Tagged as: 

  • Children's Health

Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta commits millions to grow rural pediatric care

 $200 million from CHOA will fund scholarships, training and improvements for providers in rural parts of the state

February 24, 2023
|
By:
  • Sofi Gratas
Stephanie Basey

Tagged as: 

  • News

How researchers are getting farmers to talk about mental health

Researchers across Georgia are trying to address mental health in the agriculture community, but the stigma associated with the topic is a major obstacle.

August 09, 2022
|
By:
  • Riley Bunch
Tourists still stop by to see the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers in Cairo, Ill., where commercial ships dock on the banks. A history of racial tension dating to the Civil War still stings in Cairo. And like many rural towns across the U.S., the community feels underappreciated and misunderstood.

Tagged as: 

  • Health

Why A Hard-Sell Pitch For COVID Vaccines Won't Work In This Rural Illinois Town

The sponsor of 4-H clubs nationally is tapping its respected roots in rural communities to promote COVID-19 vaccines. But it won't be easy, locals say. Start with trusted local voices — and listen.

August 16, 2021
|
By:
  • Cara Anthony
  • Load More

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