Early next month, the Center for Rural Pennsylvania is sponsoring a public hearing on rural hospital and healthcare sustainability.
While not all the arrangements for the Aug. 3 event are finalized, plans are for it to be held in the Mukaiyama University Room in Frame-Westerberg Commons at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford.
One of the speakers is slated to be Pitt alum Dr. Jill Owens, president of Upper Allegheny Health System, Bradford Regional Medical Center and Olean (N.Y.) General Hospital.
“The hearing will explore the difficulties facing rural hospitals and health systems, with a particular focus on financial sustainability,” read an announcement by the Center. “The hearing will feature statewide health organization representatives, hospital and health center executives, and public health experts.”
The event is slated to begin at 9 a.m. More details are to be announced in the near future.
“The Center for Rural Pennsylvania is a bipartisan, bicameral legislative agency that serves as a resource for rural policy within the Pennsylvania General Assembly,” the website indicated. “The Center works with the legislature, educators, state and federal executive branch agencies, and national, statewide, regional and local organizations to maximize resources and strategies that can better serve Pennsylvania’s nearly 3.4 million rural residents.”
It is chaired by Sen. Gene Yaw, R-Wellsboro, and includes as members Richard Esch, president of Pitt-Bradford and Pitt-Titusville, and Susan Snelick, president of Northern Pennsylvania Regional College.
In January 2022, state Rep. Martin Causer, R-Turtlepoint, hosted a Pennsylvania House Majority Policy Committee virtual hearing on problems in rural healthcare. Overwhelmingly, those testifying told the committee that rural healthcare officials are always tasked with doing more with less, and were left reeling by the pandemic that decimated rosters and exhausted workers. A bleak picture was painted with decreasing government reimbursements, workforce shortages and recruitment issues.