Rural health systems are bracing for a surge in patients suffering from COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, that could overwhelm small and underfunded hospitals in areas where populations are particularly vulnerable to serious symptoms.
The coronavirus outbreaks in the United States have been the most intense in major cities and suburbs like New York, New Orleans, Detroit, Seattle and the Washington, D.C., area. But experts in rural health say they know the virus is headed their way, and they worry that smaller communities are even less prepared to handle an influx of cases than their big-city colleagues.
“We just haven’t seen big numbers, thankfully, but I feel like everything I say with COVID I should end with ‘yet,’” said Jacqueline Barton True, vice president of rural health programs at the Washington State Hospital Association. Continue reading.