Coronavirus in rural America (Part XCIX): Democratic candidates raise the issue of rural hospitals

I noticed an ad about saving rural hospitals by Nicole Galloway, the Democratic candidate for governor of Missouri, a few days ago.  The ad takes to task Mike Parsons (R), the incumbent, for declining to take federal funding to expand Medicaid, which has resulted in the closure of rural hospitals in the Show-Me State.  I can't find that ad on her webpage, but it's still on her Twitter feed from just a few days ago.  

 Here's what Galloway's webpage does say about rural Missouri--yes, she has a tab for that!  Galloway was focused on rural hospitals' financial health even as state auditor, as reported in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.  And here's a St. Louis Public Radio story from May 2018 about the implications of those rural hospital closures in southeast Missouri.  Lastly, here's a story from a few days ago in the Columbia Missourian about Galloway's tender years, career and campaign.  I'll just note that she grew up in suburban St. Louis but attended Missouri S & T in micropolitan Rolla, in the rural south central part of the state.  Interestingly, Rolla is Parson's city of birth.  

I also note that Steve Bullock (D), Governor of Montana who is running to be the state's junior U.S. Senator, has also been talking rural hospitals.  I'm pasting in a recent Tweet.   

Here is one of Bullock's ads, from this past summer, about saving rural hospitals.  

P.S.  NPR ran this 4-minute piece on rural hospital closures on Oct. 17, 2020.  It's from Sarah Jane Tribble of Kaiser Health News.  She features the hospital closure in Fort Scott, Kansas, near where she grew up.  It's one of the more in-depth stories I've consumed about rural hospital closures, discussing both alternatives to rural hospitals and the consequences of these closures on a community's sense of itself.  Here are the last two paragraphs of what Tribble had to say: 

I talked with a lot of people in Fort Scott who have really significant health care needs, and they were scared when the hospital closed. But even if the hospital had not closed, not all of their health problems could've been taken care of at the hospital. Hospitals are not always the best place for people who need help managing their chronic illnesses, like emphysema and diabetes, not to mention addiction and mental health issues.

I saw people in Fort Scott gradually come to terms with this idea that a traditional hospital may not be what they really need. Often, just a good community health clinic can fill some of the gaps. And some rural places have tried a kind of hybrid hospital - just an emergency room with maybe a few overnight beds.