Research Alert: March 4, 2015

The 21st Century Rural Hospital: A Chart Book

This Chart Book uses available data to present a broad profile of the 21st century rural hospital and includes such descriptors as: Where are they located? Whom do they serve? What traditional hospital services do they provide? How do they ensure outpatient services for their community? What other community benefits do they provide or enable for citizens in their area? How are they doing financially? How are they supported by federal programs?

The pages of The 21st Century Rural Hospital: A Chart Book are each designed as a pull-out document and describe many aspects of today's rural hospital. Each page includes charts comparing rural hospitals to each other and to urban hospitals across different dimensions such as levels of rurality, US Census region, and hospital size. Important data points are emphasized and an illustrative rural hospital is highlighted. Those who are unfamiliar with today's rural hospital may be surprised by many data points shown here; others may use this document to research a particular data point.

Contact Information:

Kristie Thompson
North Carolina Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Center
kweisner@email.unc.edu

Additional Resources of Interest: