Hospitals and health systems across the country are adapting in real time to meet the evolving needs of the patients and communities that rely on them. This year alone, providers have weathered historic storms, pioneered cutting-edge innovations, and kept their doors open 24/7 for every patient who needs them. At the same time, hospitals are advancing new models of care that improve patient outcomes while helping lower costs.
In rural communities, hospital leaders are finding new ways to protect access to care as workforce shortages, administrative burdens, and federal policy changes place growing strain on providers with limited resources. Some systems are opening in-house facilities to bring services closer to patients, while others are restoring surgical programs that had long been unavailable locally. In Wisconsin, hospitals have begun to utilize new technology and other tools to relieve administrative burdens to reduce turnover at their facilities. These efforts are helping ensure that patients in areas with few alternatives can continue receiving essential care close to home.
In Missouri, hospitals are helping address the broader factors that shape health outcomes through the state’s Transformation of Rural Community Health (ToRCH) program. Under this model, hospitals serve as hubs that connect patients with a wide range of health and social services. By coordinating referrals for behavioral health care, housing assistance, food access and transportation, providers are tackling the everyday barriers that can stand between patients and the care they need.
At the same time, pediatric hospitals across the country are stepping beyond traditional care delivery, emerging as hubs for medical innovation focused specifically on children. Through partnerships with industry and federal regulators, providers are helping bring new technologies to market that are designed with young patients in mind. These efforts include developing smaller MRI systems that can be installed directly in neonatal intensive care units and growth-accommodating heart valve devices designed to reduce the need for repeat surgeries for infants.
Across the country, hospitals and health systems are demonstrating an unwavering commitment to the patients and communities they serve. By investing in new care models, advancing medical technologies, and strengthening access to services, they are working every day to ensure patients can receive the care they need while improving outcomes and helping lower costs.
These efforts are especially important as harmful corporate insurer practices and looming federal cuts threaten to put care further out of reach for millions of Americans–delaying treatments, limiting access, and creating new barriers for patients and providers. At a moment when patients depend on 24/7 access to care, it is critical to protect and strengthen access so individuals and families can get the care they need, when and where they need it.
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