The Rural hospital dilema: Will Nevada’s rural hospital system survive?

This study, prepared for the Department of Public Administration, will review and discuss the rural hospitals in the State of Nevada. By virtue of its size and population distribution, Nevada has a need for rural hospitals. These hospitals, which are of critical importance for Nevada residents, are constantly struggling with how to build and support their limited health system capacity and infrastructure. To survive, rural hospitals must offset the losses they have sustained as a result of decreased federal funding. Some ways these losses have been offset is by employing some of the programs created by the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 such as the Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility Program. In addition, they have begun to better serve their constituent population by their involvement in other areas, such as becoming county hospital districts, developing telemedicine capacity, implementing long term care options and working with the Nevada Rural Hospital Project. It is the combination of these factors and changes to their everyday functioning and continued ability to accommodate changes in the health care environment that determine the ultimate survival of Nevada’s rural hospital system