Confronting the Rural Health Care Crisis in America

For 57 million people living in rural areas, access to quality health care has waned sharply in the past few decades. Is Telehealth the answer?

UPMC Susquehanna closed the former Sunbury Community Hospital emergency department on January 31, 2020–about six weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic reached the area. (photo: Paul Weaver)

Small town hospitals have been disappearing from the landscape for decades; but long before many finally did, patients in such hospitals had already noticed a marked decrease in the treatments and procedures available at their local…