rural hospitals

A new report shows that nearly half of metro areas in the U.S. – including some in the Mountain West – have only one or two health systems controlling all inpatient care. Experts say that’s driving up the prices that patients have to pay.

The Labor, Health and Social Services Committee’s top subject during this interim was how to increase the number of labor and delivery and maternity health care professionals in the state. This, after the state lost three labor and delivery units over the past six years.

The Alzheimer’s Association of Wyoming recently received a more than $15,000 grant from the Wyoming Community Foundation to bring in-person education programs to the southwest and northeast corners of the state. The grant will support programming in Lincoln, Sublette, Sweetwater, Uinta, Crook, Niobrara and Weston counties.

Sixteen of the state's 27 hospitals are classified as critical access ones, meaning they receive more funding from the federal government for their operations caring residents in rural areas. The COVID-19 pandemic has been a strain on the resources and finances of many. And while not all are struggling like some, those who lead these hospitals say it's become more difficult since the heights of the pandemic.

Rural hospitals in Wyoming are a lifeline for small communities throughout the state. But staying afloat can be challenging. Some say Medicaid expansion could help with financial woes but the Wyoming legislature failed to pass it this year. So rural hospitals are finding ways to survive.

Sublette County is the only county in the state without a hospital but the community is trying to change that. Back in November of 2020, voters approved the formation of the Sublette County Hospital District by a 60 percent margin. This granted the district the ability to levy a property tax to build a hospital and long-term care facility. Since then, the Sublette County Health Foundation has been trying to secure funding. Wyoming Public Radio’s Kamila Kudelska spoke to Kari Dewitt, Sublette County Hospital District public relations director and the Sublette County Health Foundation director, on the challenges and need for this new hospital.

Though the death rate in rural America has decreased since the end of September, it is still significantly higher than in urban areas.

Sublette County received federal money to move forward with construction of a hospital later this summer. It is the last county in the state to not have a hospital.

Hospital administrators say they are losing money on their obstetrics programs. But many are keeping these wings open anyway to answer a dire community need.

Hospitals continue to fill up across the Mountain West, and that means some patients may have nowhere to go.