Intermountain Health Forms Coalition to Solve Rural Healthcare Crisis
By Fay Harvey
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — Intermountain Health, a not-for-profit healthcare system with 385 clinics and 33 hospitals in the Intermountain West, has partnered with Microsoft, Gates Ventures, Epic and West Health to tackle the nation’s rural healthcare crisis. The coalition aims to improve rural healthcare through technology, operations and policy.
“The current challenges facing rural Americans are sobering and the current system is unsustainable,” said Dan Liljenquist, Intermountain Health’s chief strategy officer in a company statement. “Our coalition is fully invested in understanding those challenges so we can deliver solutions that help people live the healthiest lives possible for generations.”
The coalition’s findings and proposed solutions were outlined in a white paper which utilized evidence-based research and data.
Disparities in Rural Health Care
Over the past decade, 136 rural healthcare facilities closed, with another 700 —nearly 30% — currently at risk of closure. These closures not only leave rural residents without access to essential healthcare but hurt local economies. Currently 80% of Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs) are in rural regions.
One in eight rural women of childbearing age lives in a “maternity care desert,” 25 miles or more from a hospital offering labor and delivery services. Additionally, six in 10 rural Americans reside in mental health shortage areas. Rural populations experience higher mortality rates in every leading cause of death in the U.S., with cancer deaths increasing 7.5 times, heart disease 2.5 times and chronic respiratory conditions four times compared to urban populations.
Financial instability forces rural facilities to cut critical services like maternity care, cardiovascular care and mental health treatment. Many hospitals also struggle to afford repairs for both aging infrastructure and technology, leaving them unable to adopt modern tools like electronic medical records and telehealth.
Coalition Solutions
The coalition’s framework emphasizes long-term, scalable initiatives. Its proposed “Hub and Spoke” model positions large health systems as hubs to support smaller rural hospitals with advanced technology, clinical expertise and workforce resources.
“This strategy pairs rural hospitals with larger national health systems and hospitals,” explained Dr. Jim Weinstein, senior vice president of innovation and health equity at Microsoft in an Intermountain Health statement. “Through this approach, a rural ‘spoke’ hospital accesses a national ‘hub’ hospital’s technology, staffing, medication discounts, and other resources. We hope this makes it possible for rural hospitals to remain independent while they implement more sustainable financial practices, reduce health disparities, and expand specialty care.”
Key priorities include:
- Making telehealth a permanent care option
- Enabling foreign and interstate physicians to practice in rural areas through policy changes
- Improving physician recruitment
- Advocating for adequate reimbursement from government programs like Medicaid.
The coalition members will leverage their expertise to address specific areas:
- Microsoft will provide health IT services and enterprise solutions
- Gates Venture will connect public and private sectors to drive innovation
- West Health will contribute expertise in affordable health care and aging-related initiatives.
- Intermountain Health will use its rural network to test early interventions.
The group aims to deploy best practices to strengthen rural hospital operations, implement modern technology to reduce labor costs and improve outcomes and advocate for state and federal policy changes to support rural facilities.
Funding will rely on savings created for rural hospitals, philanthropic funding, public funds and novel business models between coalition of entities.
Next Steps
The coalition will test solutions in real-world settings to evaluate their impact on patients, rural communities and healthcare systems. The group also plans to expand partnerships with stakeholders, healthcare providers and policymakers to foster innovation and secure funding.
Funding for these initiatives will be sourced through cost savings for rural hospitals, philanthropic donations, public funds and new business models developed by coalition partners.