Missouri is set to receive a major federal investment aimed at improving health care access in rural communities.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services says Missouri will receive more than $200 million through a new $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Program. The goal is to strengthen and modernize rural health care nationwide.
Dave Dillon, a spokesman for the Missouri Hospital Association, said the plan is to coordinate organizations in local hubs around the state, not only to deliver care but to improve health in rural communities "by bringing these stakeholders and care organizations together to effectively deliver in the best environment, so they know who the folks are who address generalized social-service needs in those communities."
He said the program is meant to better integrate care with the support rural communities need. It will bring investments to services that help individuals stay healthier and reduce the need for more intensive health care.
Dillon said that coordination matters in a state such as Missouri, where health-care providers are often stretched thin across large rural areas.
"Missouri is a very rural state," he said, "and the hospitals that serve them and all the other type of providers that serve them, serve them best when [we're doing] the things that we do best."
The funding begins this year and will be distributed over five years, with state leaders aiming to improve coordination among rural health providers and keep care closer to home.
Missouri News Service, a news partner with KRCU Public Radio, originally published this story.
