National Rural Health Day 2023: Date, Importance, Reasons Why Rural America Needs Better Healthcare

National Rural Health Day 2023: More than sixty million Americans reside and labor in rural communities that appear idyllic. However, circumstances become more difficult when a pregnancy or illness necessitates longer trips to the doctor or to a hospital that has ceased operations due to insufficient funding. National Rural Health Day, observed annually on the third Thursday of November, brings attention to the condition of healthcare in rural areas. We extend our sincere appreciation to the healthcare professionals, providers, and community leaders who epitomize the finest of small-town America.

Reasons Why Rural America Needs Better Healthcare

There is a shortage of physicians.

Rural communities are home to a mere 10 percent of physician practices, notwithstanding the fact that approximately 25 percent of the United States population resides in non-urban areas.

Children are experiencing distress.

Roughly twenty-four percent of adolescents residing in rural areas are impoverished.

There is a shortage of hospitals.

Due to a lack of funding, over 470 rural hospitals have ceased operations in the last quarter-century.

Insufficient mental health services are available.

In contrast to urban counties, where only 5 percent of counties lack mental health services, nearly 20 percent of counties in rural areas do so.

Hypertension is more prevalent in rural areas.

Isolation, increased poverty, and the general aging of the population could all contribute to the substantially higher prevalence of hypertension in rural areas.

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National Rural Health Day 2023: Importance

Rural communities represent the United States.

City residents occasionally lose sight of the vast world that exists beyond the confines of urban centers. National Rural Health Day presents an occasion for all to honor the healthcare providers, hospitals, and other essential infrastructure that sustain rural communities in the face of declining resources, population decline, and the detrimental effects of the opioid crisis.

It is difficult for rural areas to retain surgeons and hospitals.

A conflict is raging beyond the picturesque aesthetics of many rural communities. Hospitals are literally closing due to the lack of reimbursements by Medicare and Medicaid for services rendered, particularly during the current opioid crisis. It is difficult for the few remaining hospitals to recruit and retain qualified surgeons and physicians. Numerous physicians either “age out” or transition from general to specialized surgical practice, which necessitates their return to urban areas that can compensate them handsomely for their high-level surgical expertise.

Rural America has a disproportionately high rate of poverty.

National Rural Health Day brings attention to the detrimental effects of destitution on rural healthcare systems. Rural residents earn an average income that is approximately 25 percent lower than that of urban Americans. The closure of manufacturing, farming, mining, and other industries, in addition to the escalating opioid crisis, causes younger people to either abandon the area or develop behavioral health issues. Frequently, rural communities of color reside in “food deserts”—areas devoid of grocery stores carrying perishable goods and fresh produce—an element that contributes to the region’s elevated prevalence of hypertension and cardiovascular issues.

National Rural Health Day 2023: Date