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A recent federal budget proposal that’s floating around Washington sketches out plans to eliminate parts of the Health Resources and Services Administration and its Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP), according to a JAMA Network news article. A provisional budget outline specifically mentions eliminating 4 rural health programs meant to sustain critical access hospitals in distress with a 25% cut for FORHP’s budget in fiscal year 2026. The impact of the cuts could be “devastating” for rural health if the proposal is adopted, according to comments from the National Rural Health Association included in the news article. Rural state offices that connect providers with practical, operational aspects of their businesses, such as technical assistance, data sharing, and staff recruitment, are reportedly positioned for elimination as well. About 65 million people live in rural America, and ongoing hospital closures are stretching local resources thinner than ever, causing access issues for patients and delayed care.
Urgent care can help: For urgent care, rural markets are the fastest-growing of all geographic segments, accounting for 26% of new rooftops in 2024. “The closure of rural hospitals and difficulties in staffing and resourcing rural emergency departments have created a crisis in access to timely and appropriate emergency care for millions of Americans living in rural communities,” says Alan Ayers, President of Urgent Care Consultants and Senior Editor of JUCM. “By providing a local option for non-acute patients, urgent care can help patients avoid extensive travel to other communities for care, enable hospital emergency departments to focus their limited resources and staff on more critical and life-threatening emergencies, and provide an ongoing point of contact for routine care.” Read more about the rural market for urgent care from the JUCM archive: Rural Urgent Care Growth Continues, But Challenges Remain