Rural Health Care

 U.S. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack has announced that the USDA is providing 30-million dollars through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for community facility projects many of which are for healthcare facilities. He says the focus is on providing new and improved healthcare infrastructure in rural America. And that’s the key…rural America, where hospital systems are nowhere near as good as they are in the big cities. Take a look at Boise: two huge and very successful hospital chains. Not gonna find that out in the sticks are ya’.

 (Vilsack) Unfortunately, too often in rural America, our residents don’t have access to quality healthcare facilities. During my rural tour I met with people who expressed concerns about that. The 36 community facility projects that are being funded immediately will help reduce the divide between what exists in urban America and what exists in rural America.

 According to Vilsack - the announcement is a continuation of the Obama Administration’s effort to improve the nation’s health care - and commitment to revitalizing rural communities. Rebuilding healthcare infrastructure - he says - will help rural residents have access to critical care. Under the current system – the Ag Secretary says rural residents do not fare well.

  Vilsack says we are a significant step closer to a day with health care reform that matters to people in rural communities with the passage of the Senate Finance Committee’s proposal.