Literature Review

Rural Solterra Hospice triples patient census Hospice News; by Holly Vossel; 9/17/26 Oregon-based Solterra Hospice has seen its average daily census rate triple in the last year. The organization’s leaders attribute the expansion to balanced clinical capacity and strong community collaboration. Solterra Hospice began serving patients in November 2024 after receiving its Medicare and Medicaid certifications earlier that year. The family-owned organization’s average daily census currently hovers around 75–80 patients, tripling from 25 patients in fall 2025. Prioritizing small patient caseloads for clinicians allowed for meaningful, sustainable growth, according to Christie Rivelli and Dr. Chris Eilersen, co-founders and co-owners of Solterra Hospice. ... This clinical strategy opened up opportunities to better reach under-resourced, remote regions, Rivelli said.

Stillwater Hospice brings palliative care to rural populations Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 9/2/26 Indiana-based Stillwater Hospice recently completed a rural palliative care pilot that the nonprofit plans to extend into a long-term program. The program’s roots were planted in October 2025. It emerged from a collaboration with Cameron Health, a community hospital in Angola, Indiana. ... Through the program, seriously ill patients who have been recently discharged from Cameron have access to a nurse practitioner for symptom management, patient and family education and goals-of-care conversations. Patients receive a phone call within three days of discharge and a visit within a week, ...

Rural health is having a moment. But it still doesn’t feel like enough. HealthIT Answers; by Amy Oliver; 8/9/26Rural health is having a moment. There is $50 billion in federal transformation funding on the table, a wave of state legislation moving through capitols with a trail of confusion, and a public comment period on Medicaid work requirements that recently closed. Layer on the webinars, panels, policy briefs, and LinkedIn posts about rural hospitals, and it is more attention than I have seen in my fifteen years in this industry. ... If you work at a health system or a rural hospital and you are living the gap between what the policy assumes and what your systems can actually do, I would really like to hear from you. I am talking to CIOs, clinicians, and administrators for the next piece in this series, and off the record is completely fine. amy@azulheart.com  

700 rural hospitals at risk of closing, by state Becker's Hospital Review; by Madeline Scheetz; 7/22/26 Seven hundred rural hospitals across the U.S., or about one-third of all rural facilities in the country, are at risk of closing due to severe financial challenges, according to a July 21 Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform analysis. The analysis comprises 264 hospitals that are at immediate risk of closure, according to the report. In almost every state, rural hospitals are at risk of closure. In most states, more than 25% of rural hospitals are at risk and in 11 states, 50% or more are at risk. ... More than 100 rural U.S. hospitals have closed in the past decade, with 110 closing since 2015, according to the report. Fifty-three hospitals have ended inpatient services since the beginning of 2023 to qualify for federal grants only available to rural emergency hospitals.

Left behind: Why small-town Americans are waiting longer for healthcare The Brandenton Times; by Stacy Pur, MBA, BSN, RN; 6/18/26 Somewhere in America, a woman with a late-stage cancer diagnosis is sitting in a nursing home on a Friday afternoon. She has chosen to stop active treatment. All she wants now is comfort, seamless pain relief, and the dignity of a gentle, supported care plan. The skilled nursing facility produced a thick paper packet of discharge information. But missing from that package is the one instruction that matters most: an order for hospice care coming from her oncologist. Because hospice and the advance directive were not arranged before the transfer to a hospice wing, and because the paperwork was incomplete, the nursing staff could not coordinate pain management over the weekend. Everything is closed. The patient spends two days without the medication she needs. That is not a hypothetical.

Berkshire Health Systems CIO says AI must show measurable results to justify adoption at rural hospitals Complete AI Training | Healthcare; 5/16/26 Berkshire Health Systems CIO William Young demands AI prove its worth through time saved and waste cut-not features. The rural Massachusetts health system pilots AI carefully, measuring outcomes before any wider rollout.  ... Does it save time? Does it cut waste? Does it help a rural hospital system survive?

Big Bend Hospice launches Nutrition Shake Drive to support Jefferson County Patients WTXL-27 ABC, Tallahassee, FL; by Crystal Whitman; 5/8/26 Big Bend Hospice in Jefferson County is calling on the community to help provide vital nutrition for local hospice patients through a month-long Nutrition Shake Drive. For many in hospice care, eating full meals can be difficult or impossible. Meal replacements like Ensure, Boost, and Glucerna offer comfort and essential nutrients, but they are often not covered by health insurance, leaving families — especially in rural areas — to shoulder the cost themselves.

Palliative care loss hits Durango patients The Durango Herald, Durango, CO | Letters to the Editor; by Stacey Ebel; 4/24/26 My emotions are running high after learning about CommonSpirit Mercy Hospital discontinuing their palliative care program. ... My mother moved here in 2020 with numerous health issues, and I enrolled her in palliative care as I knew that at some point she would need to transition to hospice. Her palliative care nurse practitioner, Jen, visited my mother monthly in her apartment ...  Potential and past patients will now have to go to the ER or their personal PCPs for treatment. Recently, the last palliative care nurse had to discharge 200 patients. 

CMS announces $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Program: What providers and states need to know JD Supra; by Margia Corner, Alexandria Foster, Kendall Kohlmeyer; 2/2/26On December 29, 2025, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) announced that it will distribute award amounts to all 50 states under the first year of the Rural Health Transformation Program (the “Program”). ... The Program’s $50 billion in funds will be allocated over five years, with $10 billion available each year beginning in 2026. ... Under Public Law 119-21, funding must be distributed to states as follows: ...

Big Bend Hospice expands its mission and services across the Florida Panhandle Big Bend Hospice, Tallahassee, FL; by Cristal E. Baer; 1/6/26 ... Beginning in January 2026, hospice services will expand into Jackson, Calhoun and Gulf Counties, marking the first phase of a thoughtful, long-term effort to ensure individuals and families throughout the region have access to the care and support they need. ... This growth represents the first step in a broader, long-term commitment to the Florida Panhandle. While the immediate focus is on delivering exceptional hospice care, the expansion also creates opportunities for future service growth that will further strengthen support for individuals and families throughout the region.

Bereavement service deserts: A 2024 statewide assessment of  bereavement services Death Studies, open access; by Christopher W. Giang, Luisa Kcomt, Joshua Truchan, Kara Dickinson, Rebecca J. Evans-Polce & Sean Esteban McCabe; 12/5/25 ... This paper introduces the term “bereavement service desert” to describe geographic areas with high mortality and little to no access to bereavement services. Bereavement services deserts are especially concerning where elevated death rates are met with an absence of formal grief supports, trained providers, or community-based resources. As these trends in death have continued to rise over the last decade, the social and economic costs of unresolved grief are becoming more apparent in families, schools, com munities, workplaces, and healthcare systems. ...Editor's Note: Though this research focuses on bereavement agencies across Michigan's 83 counties, its methodologies and outcomes provide data, references, and insights relevant to examining bereavement care in all U.S. states. What are the "bereavement service deserts" in the your state(s)? In the areas you serve?

NCPA and USC launch first publicly available tool to identify pharmacy shortage areas across America National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA), Alexandria, VA; Press Release; 11/4/25 The National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA), in collaboration with the University of Southern California (USC), unveiled an interactive, user-friendly pharmacy shortage area mapping tool available to the general public for the first time. Previously accessible only to select individuals and organizations, the public [can now] identify pharmacy shortage areas and understand access challenges in their local communities. ... The mapping tool reveals that approximately one in eight U.S. neighborhoods — representing millions of Americans — persistently lack convenient access to pharmacy services. In rural areas and underserved urban communities, the problem is far more severe, with some states and counties experiencing shortage rates approaching 50 percent.

Home health groups press for a piece of rural health funding Modern Healthcare; by Diane Eastabrook; 9/2/25 Key Takeaways