During a recent Newsweek webinar, leaders from Sanford Health, InterSystems, and Lumeris discussed the $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Fund. The conversation started with cautious optimism, a common feeling in discussions about rural health. Three months after the fund’s implementation, states are moving quickly, and early funding has begun reaching providers.
Challenges and Misconceptions
The discussion took a critical turn when Dr. Tim Ferris, vice president of healthcare practice at InterSystems, addressed misconceptions about the initiative. He clarified that the fund is not primarily aimed at saving rural hospitals. Financial issues arise because Medicare and Medicaid reimburse less than hospitalization costs.
Ferris emphasized that the Rural Health Transformation Fund should focus on improving access to care, enhancing information sharing, and improving care delivery, rather than preventing hospital closures. Current data from Chartis’ 2026 rural health report shows that over 40% of rural hospitals operate at a loss. More than 417 are vulnerable to closure, and over 200 have closed since 2010. Meanwhile, the RHTF aims to inject $50 billion into transforming rural health care.
Shifting Perspectives
Matt Hocks, executive vice president and COO of Sanford Health in Sioux Falls, supports this view. He sees the program as an opportunity to rethink rural care. Sanford Health plans to invest in technology that allows care to stay local, avoiding the need to move patients to distant medical centers. Hocks stated that they aim for technology and virtual care to support this goal.
Integrating Infrastructure and Technology
Dr. David Carmouche, chief medical and commercial officer at Lumeris, further expanded the discussion by emphasizing the connection between access, workforce, and technology. He noted that patients experience the benefits of infrastructure through improved health outcomes. Technology should make care more available and higher quality.
Hocks also highlighted the difficulty rural hospitals face in modernizing due to limited financial margins. He pointed out that tech projects are often delayed. This approach hinders the adoption of virtual nursing, remote expertise, and cybersecurity improvements.
Ferris compared this opportunity to the HITECH Act, which pushed nationwide electronic health record (EHR) adoption. He argued that the rural healthcare transformation should include interoperability and scalability from the outset.
Role of Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence was frequently discussed as a future layer to enhance patient care. Carmouche envisioned AI using real-time patient data to monitor and identify health issues. This would enable a constrained primary care workforce to serve more people.
Hocks pointed to the potential of AI in behavioral health, suggesting that technologies like chatbots offer significant advantages in connecting with patients.
Financial Challenges Persist
Despite the technological focus, no speaker claimed it would solve rural healthcare’s financial difficulties. Ferris highlighted that payment reform and transformational efforts are distinct but concurrent issues. The Rural Health Transformation Fund can improve care delivery, but not overcome ongoing economic pressures on rural hospitals.
Amid national debate, analysts argue that while the fund supports innovation, it cannot counter long-term reimbursement challenges. Panelists concluded that the fund’s success should be measured by improved care quality and access, rather than hospital survival rates. Ferris contended these metrics align more closely with the fund’s original objectives.
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