Beth O'Connor, Executive Director at Virginia Rural Health Association

The Risky Health Care Business

What she does: Beth is the Executive Director of the Virginia Rural Heath Association, immediate Past-President of the National Rural Health Association Board of Trustees, and past Chair of the National Rural Health Association Government Affairs Committee.

On risk: "If you said risk and rural to me, the first thing that would pop into my mind was the hospital closures we've had all over rural America. Those hospital closures and the concern about our small rural facilities being able to stay financially viable is absolutely at the top of my mind when you say risk … Economics is a big factor. Can you financially keep the hospital open? Can you keep paying your staff? Can you stay in the black long term? That's very tricky for rural hospitals … Even if you can pay them (staff) a decent salary, can you attract people to work in your facility? … It's very hard to keep a physician in a rural community. It's especially hard to recruit and retain specialists in rural communities. So that's a major problem. If you have a facility that doesn't mean you can provide all the services … Transportation is a barrier on so many levels. Every corner of the country has different types of transportation barriers. Transportation and the distance between services is absolutely a concern … People need to realize how many of our rural citizens and even our rural facilities, hospitals, clinics, still do not have sufficient access to the internet … The regulations that govern rural hospitals were created by Congress. And it takes a literal act of Congress to change them"

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