Rural Healthcare: UI Health CEO on Collaboration
- The sustainability of rural health care is increasingly critical as nearly 150 rural hospitals in the U.S.
- Bradley Haws, CEO of clinical enterprise, UI Health Care, emphasized the importance of prioritizing rural healthcare sustainability through collaboration.
Discover how collaboration offers solutions to the critical challenges facing rural hospitals. This piece unpacks the essential role of rural hospitals in delivering vital healthcare, especially in underserved communities. Learn about the financial strains leading to closures, impacting millions, and the urgent need for innovative strategies to ensure sustainability. UI Health CEO Bradley Haws highlights the importance of collaboration, drawing attention to the physician shortages and declining populations impacting Iowa, Georgia, and Virginia. news Directory 3 explores how partnerships and Medicaid programs can lead to improvements! Discover what’s next …
Rural Hospitals Face Challenges; Collaboration offers solutions
Updated June 26,2025
The sustainability of rural health care is increasingly critical as nearly 150 rural hospitals in the U.S. either closed or ceased admitting patients between 2005 and 2023, with 81 shutting down entirely. The Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform reports that millions of Americans no longer have local hospital access, and a third of rural hospitals are at risk due to financial instability.
Bradley Haws, CEO of clinical enterprise, UI Health Care, emphasized the importance of prioritizing rural healthcare sustainability through collaboration. haws noted that Iowa,Georgia,and Virginia face similar challenges,including declining rural populations,difficulty attracting providers,and a nationwide provider shortage.
Iowa’s physician workforce shortage ranks among the nation’s most severe, with 17% fewer physicians per capita in rural areas compared to urban centers. This disparity impacts access to care and has contributed to the closure of 41 hospital labor and delivery departments as 2000. However,Iowa has seen recent improvements,with hospital operating margins increasing substantially from 2023 to 2024,attributed to the state