Iowa Rural Healthcare Workforce Connection Listserv

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Spotlight

A Collection of Celebrated Caregiver Stories

Nothing is more impactful and relatable than a personal story. Iowa CareGivers, through a partnership with the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Public Health, is showcasing Caregiver Stories from direct care workers, family caregivers, and healthcare students. The stories help to educate others about who caregivers are and the important role they play, but more importantly, inspire all who read them. Please read the stories and consider submitting your own story or sharing with others.

Upcoming Events

List of National Rural Health Association Upcoming Events

  • Rural Health Policy Institute Feb. 10-12, 2026 Washington D.C.
  • Rural Health Access Conference May 18-19, 2026 San Diego, Calif.  
  • Rural Medical Education Conference May 19, 2026 San Diego, Calif.
  • Annual Rural Health Conference May 19-22, 2026 San Diego, Calif.  
  • Rural Hospital Innovation Summit May 19-22, 2026 San Diego, Calif.

Have you ever lived or worked in agriculture in Iowa?

We invite you to participate in a student project being conducted by investigators from The University of Iowa. The purpose of the study is to better understand what people living and working in agricultural communities in Iowa know and believe about cancer development and cancer risk factors, as part of an Agricultural Safety and Health master’s student project. Study results can help inform understandable and relatable cancer prevention and risk reduction educational materials for agricultural communities.

NARHC Research and Education Foundation Launches Fall Scholarships

Quest for Rural Experience Scholarships are $3,000 awards provided directly to students to assist in covering various expenses they may incur during their rotations, including housing, transportation, and other educational expenses. NARHC REF aims to award four scholarships this fall

Community Facilities Direct Loan & Grant Program

Open Year Around

This program provides affordable funding to develop essential community facilities in rural areas. An essential community facility is defined as a facility that provides an essential service to the local community for the orderly development of the community in a primarily rural area, and does not include private, commercial or business undertakings.

Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) designation update.

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) plans to update the HPSA designations and publish new HPSAs on September 23, 2025, as part of its national shortage designation update (NSDU).

News

​​The next ‘major workforce crisis’ systems are tackling

Health systems are taking on what one leader has called the “next major workforce crisis”: a shortage of nurse educators.

State of The Healthcare Workforce: 5 Things to Know

Healthcare hiring surged in July with 55,400 new jobs—far outpacing the monthly average—as hospitals, home health, and physician offices led the growth. Dive into the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics report to see where the biggest gains happened and what it means for the broader job market.

Student Loan Reform and the Physician Shortage: 9 Notes

Healthcare groups are warning that caps on federal loan limits for medical students passed under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act could worsen the nation’s physician shortage. 

Mental health care and facilities are almost non-existent in rural communities

In the U.S., just over 66 million people live in rural areas, or about 20% of the nation's population, according to the USDA. In Indiana, the number of rural residents is 900,000, or about 14% of the state's population. For a large number of Indiana’s rural residents like Ward, access to specialty care — specifically that for psychiatry and mental health —  is a struggle. Solving this struggle has been difficult for rural health professionals.

More Rural Maternity Departments Facing Closure

The number of rural hospitals that won’t be delivering babies has increased this year, and without change, that number will continue to grow, according to a report from The Center for Healthcare Quality and payment Reform (CHQPR). They cound that since the end of 2020, more than 100 rural hospitals announcing they have closed or will close their maternity units in the first half of 2025 is already nearly the same number as closures in 2024. Check out the article for more information and to access the report from CHQPR.

Iowa Launches Behavioral Health Overhaul: What It Means for Rural Communities

As of July 1, Iowa has officially launched a major overhaul of its behavioral health system, unifying mental health and substance use services under a single statewide framework. This is the most significant system redesign in years, with major implications for rural Iowans.

Hospital in Montana Tries New Model to Help Rural Hospitals

An innovative work-model helps rural hospitals provide care every day of the year through rotating shifts. Synergy Health Partner's Surgicalist Model helps ensure rural areas like Glasgow, don't have a lapse in services.

Tools & Resources

Rural Hospital Community Health Needs Assessments (CHNA) and Interactive Mapping Tool

Find rural hospital CHNAs and see what the top three health needs across Iowa Communities are by county. Additionally, access interactive maps and directions.

Behavioral Health in Hospitals. What the Latest AHA Data Shows

Hospitals and health systems across the country are evolving their approach to behavioral health care. But what does that look like?

Key findings from the American Hospital Association’s Annual Survey highlight:
  • The number of psychiatric and behavioral health hospitals
  • Where hospitals are offering screenings and integrated services
  • How behavioral health is being coordinated across emergency, inpatient and primary care

Maternal Health Report Card

The Policy Center for Maternal Mental Health recently released state-by-state maternal mental health report cards that provide a snapshot of state progress addressing maternal mental health. Using measures across three domains—providers and programs, screening, and coverage—these report cards pinpoint areas of opportunity for states to improve maternal mental health.

Rural Health Information Hub Maps

If you work in rural health in Iowa, the Rural Health Information Hub Maps offer a valuable tool for understanding key trends and challenges affecting rural communities across the state and the nation. Whether you’re working on a funding proposal, developing a community health program, or advocating for rural health resources, this tool can help support your efforts with clear, up-to-date data.

Workforce Projections Tool

View National Center for Health Workforce Analysis projections of the future supply of and demand for healthcare occupations. Projections were generated using some data from the period of the pandemic. See the “About this Dashboard” for more details about the projections.

Publications

New Report Describes Rural Health Challenges and Action Steps

The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice at the Geisel School of Medicine, together with partners at Dartmouth Health, have issued a new report that details the key insights and primary recommendations that emerged from the inaugural Rural Health Symposium.

Obstetric Care Access Declined in Rural and Urban Hospitals Across US States, 2010–22.

A new Health Affairs study reveals a nationwide decline in hospital-based obstetric services between 2010 and 2022, affecting both rural and urban hospitals. The study emphasizes that these closures are linked to policy and resource decisions and warns that reduced access to obstetric care may worsen maternal and infant health outcomes, especially in highly rural and underserved communities.

Who Is Leaving the Emergency Medical Services Workforce?

Emergency medical services (EMS) are a critical part of the US healthcare, public health, and public safety systems, providing both emergency and non-emergency care across diverse pre-hospital settings. EMS clinicians hold tiered credentials based on education, certification, and licensure, yet workforce shortages persist due to the absence of a comprehensive national database.

A Review of Recruitment and Retention Strategies in US Local Health Departments: Insights and Practical Solutions

This study highlights the staffing barriers facing LHDs and offers practical solutions they can implement to support successful recruitment and retention. More work is needed to identify specific ways to improve workplace culture, quantify the disparity between pay offered by health departments and their competitors, and better understand barriers and opportunities related to supporting a diverse workforce.

The Iowa Healthcare Workforce
Summit Report

The Iowa Healthcare Workforce Summit was comprised of over 70 participants from various areas of the healthcare system. Participants engaged in focused discussion about education and training, recruitment, and retention. Overarching themes included supporting early exposure to healthcare careers, improving work environments, and redesigning work structures to address burnout.

Compendium of Rural Oral Health Best Practices

The 2025 Compendium of Best Practices in Rural Oral Health, developed by the National Rural Health Association and CareQuest Institute, showcases innovative programs addressing oral health disparities in rural communities.

Rural Populations are Aging – What it Means for Iowa

New data from the USDA Economic Research Service shows a major demographic shift in rural America. While the overall rural population has grown by more than two million, the number of working-age residents (15–64) has declined by over two million. This trend reflects longer life expectancy, lower birth rates, and younger individuals moving away—while more older adults choose to retire in rural communities.

Obstetric Care Access Declined in Rural and Urban Hospitals Across US States, 2010-22.

With support from the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy, a team of researchers from the University of Minnesota, Harvard University, and the University of Pennsylvania found widespread loss of obstetric services across states, especially among rural hospitals, during the 12-year period studied.  By 2022, eight states had more than two-thirds of rural hospitals without obstetric services. 

Access and Quality of Mental Health Services in Rural and Urban America

Among the key findings in this brief from the University of South Carolina Rural Health Research Center:
  • Digital Divide Exacerbating Access: Both rural and urban Zip Code Tabulation Areas located more than 30 minutes away from the nearest mental health facility have a higher proportion of households without access to essential telecommunication devices.
  • Quality of Rural Mental Health Facilities: Rural facilities generally demonstrate better performance compared to urban facilities in terms of continuity of care measures and lower rates of physical restraint and seclusion usage.

New Study Finds Key Factors to Expanding Dental Care in the Safety Net

Our recent study examined critical factors influencing the delivery of oral health services at federally qualified health centers (FQHCs), and findings were recently published in the June issue of the Journal of Public Health Dentistry. Researchers analyzed FQHC utilization data from 2012 to 2021 to evaluate trends in oral health services at over 1,000 FQHCs nationwide.

Current Approaches to Rural Health Workforce Challenges Need Improvement

Rural health and access to care have been a concern to health care providers and policymakers for many years. The daunting combination of a scarcity of health care resources; enduring poverty; and challenges related to education, technology, transportation, and infrastructure have resulted in widespread and growing health disparities for people living in rural areas, relative to their urban neighbors. While the data show New York’s efforts to be highly successful in recruiting providers into rural areas, the lesson learned is that additional measures are needed.