Rounds sponsors bill to provide rural hospitals with technical assistance - Ripon Advance

U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) on April 3 sponsored bipartisan legislation that aims to help keep rural hospitals open around the nation.

The Rural Hospital Technical Assistance Program Act of 2025, S. 1282, which is cosponsored by U.S. Sen. Peter Welch (D-VT), would codify the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Rural Hospital Technical Assistance Program, an existing pilot program that provides technical assistance to rural hospitals to prevent closures, improve their financial and operational performance, and bolster essential healthcare services in rural communities.

NRHA Policy

NRHA advocates for policy positions developed by the association’s membership on behalf of rural health stakeholders. Find NRHA's annual policy agenda, policy briefs, background papers, and more below. 

National Rural Health Association Priority Areas

Advocacy Resources: Coordinated grassroots efforts by NRHA members and other rural health advocates are critical to ensuring rural and underserved populations have access to health care. The documents listed below are resources to articulate specific policy asks on the rural health issues you care most about. Use these materials as resources when talking to your state and federal leaders.

Advocacy Campaigns: Links to current NRHA Advocacy campaigns.

Not sure who your Congressional Representative is? Look it up here

Monthly highlight- Evidence-Based Toolkits for Rural Community Health

Step-by-step guides to help you build effective community health. Resources and examples are drawn from evidence-based and promising programs. By learning from programs that are known to be effective, you can make the best use of limited funding and resources.

Are HCC Risk Scores a Reliable Health Status Indicator Across Rural and Urban Areas?

This brief examines differences in Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Hierarchical Condition Category (HCC) risk scores between rural and urban Medicare Fee-for-Service (FFS) beneficiaries across four common chronic conditions: hypertension, diabetes, depression, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

HRSA Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSA) Find

Find data on the geographic, population, and facility HPSA designations throughout the United States. HPSA Find

Use this tool to:

• Search HPSAs by location or HPSA ID
• Filter HPSAs by discipline, status, type, score, and rural status

Resources for Community Health Workers | Chronic Disease | CDC

The resources on this page can support CHWs as they serve communities, and guide health care providers, health systems, community organizations, and others in working with CHWs more effectively.

3RNET Latest Training featured Website Updates!

The latest webinar highlights some of the website improvements and new features. A few of the new features we showcase include:

• The ability for health professionals to add multiple profession choices to their profile
• A better way for health professionals to refer themselves to employers
• Added ability to link accounts together (e.g. – two employer accounts in the same facility)
• And many more!

NOSORH Grant Writing Institute- Beyond the Basics, On-Demand

A comprehensive, virtual training program designed to help rural grant seekers and program managers advance their grantsmanship skills.

Virginia State Office of Rural Health (VA-SORH) has a new YouTube Channel featuring 3RNET

On March 12th, we hosted a webinar with 3RNET about how to use their platform to build your healthcare team. VA-SORH provides the 3RNET resource for FREE.

Also, learn from our team how to utilize the Virginia HPSA profiles found on Health Workforce Incentive Programs – Health Equity webpage.

Every Wednesday in May from 12:00 pm - 1:30pm

In honor of Maternal Mental Health Awareness Month this May, the Virginia Nurses Foundation (VNF) and the Virginia Nurses Association (VNA) are hosting a weekly webinar series designed to elevate healthcare awareness and promote optimal maternal health across communities!

This 90-minute series will be held every Wednesday in May. These FREE webinars aim to provide insights, strategies, and resources to all healthcare professionals, to support a healthier maternal experience for all. CE units are available.

Week 1: Maternal Health Data

Week 2: Peri/Postnatal Depression and Anxiety 

Week 3: Substance Use and SDOH 

Week 4: Pregnancy Loss

48th Annual Rural Conference, Atlanta, GA 

May 19-23, 2025

Join NRHA and hundreds of rural health leaders from across the country down in Atlanta to help raise the standard for rural health with over 80 innovative, practical, and cost-saving sessions and much more.

 Virginia Rural Health Clinic Summit,

 June 4-5, 2025, Wintergreen Resort

 $25 registration fee, FREE lodging for RHC staff!

         Topics Include: 

Substance Use Disorders

Updates on Policy Regulations

A View from Washington

VAFCC's Virtual Summit, June 9-13, 2025

Building off the success of previous virtual events that provided increased access to online learning and educational opportunities for volunteers and staff within our member clinics, the VAFCC's Virtual Summit will offer a diverse array of content tracks. Free and open to all clinic staff and volunteers.

Virginia Certification Board- Certified Community Health Worker Credentials (CCHW)

The Virginia Community Health Worker Advisory Group and Virginia Community Health Worker Association submit this document in support of certification of Community Health Workers (CHWs) working in Virginia. Seven (7) domain areas have been identified and defined to ensure that individuals seeking to become “certified community health workers” in the Commonwealth have been trained and have experience in the domains. 

Governor Youngkin Announces New Virginia Department of Health Maternal and Child Health Data Dashboards

Governor Glenn Youngkin announced the launch of an upgraded Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Dashboard and two new dashboards to monitor and provide actionable data on maternal mortality and pregnancy-associated deaths. The data are designed to be used as a resource to establish best practices to assist mothers during pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. This is a part of the Administration’s ongoing effort to support Virginia moms and improve maternal health outcomes.  

 Updates on key legislation from the Virginia       General Assembly as it pertains to rural health.

• HB 1904- Expands privileges in newborn nurseries.
• HB 1635/SB 1352- Licensure and recognition of certified midwives.
• HB 1923- Reimbursement parity for all licensed midwives (pending Governor's review)
• Continuing concern over malpractice caps that threaten rural OB programs.

CDC Data Show Virginia Leading the Nation in Reducing Drug Overdose Deaths; Virginia Department of Health Data Show 44% Drop in Fentanyl Deaths

In addition, data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that between the 12-month periods ending November 2023 and November 2024, Virginia led the nation in year-over-year percentage declines in drug overdose deaths.

One of the initiatives to educate the public on this crisis is It Only Takes One, a comprehensive education and engagement initiative to give parents, family members, educators, and caretakers the knowledge they need to warn their loved ones about the dangers of fentanyl. 

FOOD & HEALTH

Whether young or old, male or female, tall or short, everyone needs to eat. Food is the cornerstone for survival. We also know that what and how much you eat and drink affects your health. Everyone can afford to eat better, and everyone needs to be active, especially with skyrocketing healthcare costs. Food, nutrition, and health are important for each and every person:

• Almost one in five children is considered overweight.
• Foodborne illnesses account for 76 million illnesses each year.
• Seven of every 10 Americans die from preventable chronic diseases like heart disease.