RCHC – Rural & Community Healthcare Collaborative

Quality Healthcare
is a Powerful Gift

Rural and community-based hospitals
across the U.S. face closure

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RCHC is a registered 501(c) nonprofit organization.
All donations are tax deductible in full or part.

BLOG

After Losing Its Hospital, A Small Tennessee Town Shows One Way To Make Do

After the hospital in Hohenwald, Tennessee closed in 1996, area residents were forced to drive 45 minutes to the nearest emergency room. The facility has since reopened as Lewis Health Center, a hybrid medical center that provides more services than a health clinic but fewer than a hospital. This innovative approach may become a model for other struggling rural hospitals. Read the full article by Blake Farmer of Nashville Public Radio.

IMPACT

Hospitals Strengthen Communities

In addition to providing important healthcare services, a community hospital is often a leading employer and vital economic engine for a small town. When rural hospitals close, communities suffer:

Reduced access to emergency, primary care providers and specialty healthcare services

Decreased employment opportunities

Decreased tax base

Reduced ability to attract new businesses to a community

A rural, critical-access hospital generates an average of $10.3 million in wages, salary and benefits each year from hospital operations and construction improvements.

View data source

CHALLENGE

Why Community Hospitals Need Your Help

Declining reimbursements and changes in coding
An unfavorable payer mix
Higher fixed costs
Remote geographic location and small size
Difficulty recruiting and retaining physicians
The cost of new and updated technology
Sagging hospital operations

Read the White Paper

There have been 87 rural and community hospitals that have closed since 2010, according to the North Carolina Rural Health Research Program. Unfortunately, troubled hospitals in a cycle of declining profitability often lack the ability to pay for needed consulting services and wait to reach out for help after they are near the brink of failure.

Learn More about Rural Hospital Closures

ABOUT

Our Mission to Help Hospitals

The Rural and Community Healthcare Collaborative (RCHC) was founded in 2016 by the leaders of Community Hospital Corporation (CHC) who share a passion to help rural and community hospitals that can’t afford services to improve their performance or sustain their future.

Since its founding in 1996, CHC has helped community-based hospitals deliver quality care, maintain their financial health and remain locally governed. In addition to the direct ownership and management of a portfolio of hospitals, CHC accomplishes its not-for-profit mission through consulting services. CHC consultants help rural and community hospitals overcome operational challenges and become change-agile in the constantly shifting world of healthcare.

Unfortunately, troubled hospitals in a cycle of declining profitability may lack the wherewithal to pay for needed assistance.

RCHC was founded to help these rural and community hospitals by offering no- and low-cost consulting services. We raise funds to support rural and community hospitals through individual, foundation, and corporate sources.

LEADERSHIP

Visionary Guidance

Experienced RCHC leaders understand that rural and community hospitals are key components of this nation’s healthcare delivery system and critical to rural residents’ access to healthcare.