Hillsdale Hospital announces new campaign to promote and preserve rural health
Hillsdale Hospital has launched a new communications and advocacy campaign, Rural Health Strong, to promote the value of rural health and encourage the nation to take action toward preserving it. This launch will mark the first new campaign since the Hillsdale Strong. Hillsdale First. campaign, which the hospital initiated to encourage the community to choose local health services as their first option for care.
According to hospital leaders, the campaign was formed in response to Medicaid cuts introduced by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, as well as other ongoing regulation changes and program cancellations that are already resulting in job cuts and closures for rural hospitals.
“We have to come together and lift our voices,” said Jeremiah J. Hodshire, president and chief executive officer. “We’re financially viable right now, and to sustain that over time, we must be Rural Health Strong. Now is a critical time for us to support and advocate for all rural hospitals—our brothers and sisters around the country.”
The hospital identified several main areas of concern on the podcast, Rural Health Today, and through other media channels. One is the administrative burdens around work/community engagement requirements and the reductions to the provider tax, which allows many states to maintain their expansion programs (e.g. the Healthy Michigan Plan).
Another provision includes changes to Medicaid eligibility and more frequent redeterminations, which require every Medicaid recipient to re-enroll despite the lack of communication and resources around these events. Hillsdale Hospital and other rural healthcare providers have also expressed concern over reductions to the Federal Matching Assistant Percentage incentive, which helps support expansion states and boost hospital revenues where the Medicaid payer population is high, and a new cap in Medicaid State Directed Payment Programs.
“We became spokespersons against the legislation because of the devastation we knew it would have on the Medicaid population, which is a vital source of reimbursement for rural hospitals,” Hodshire said. “If carried out, this legislation will result in increased uncompensated care, lack of access for many patients, individuals losing coverage and ultimately, poor healthcare outcomes.”
The Rural Health Strong campaign is designed to promote rural health by growing awareness of the value that rural hospitals bring to their communities. Hospital leaders also hope the campaign will help tell the stories of those who will be most impacted by legislation that puts rural hospitals at a disadvantage.
“We seek to unite rural hospitals and equip communities to be advocates of rural health,” said Kyrsten Newlon, communications and donor development manager. “This campaign will address the recent legislation that poses a serious threat to rural healthcare, and also provide education and regular updates on the how cuts to Medicaid are impacting our industry and our communities.”
Hillsdale Hospital posted a video presenting the launch of the campaign to the public, and plans to publish multiple series of photos, videos, testimonials, analyses and more as a part of this campaign. They encourage the community and industry to follow along on their Facebook page (@HillsdaleHospital) and their website, hillsdalehospital.com.
“We encourage anyone touched by rural health to submit photos of what rural health means to them and stories of how rural health has impacted their lives,” Newlon said.
Photos and stories can be sent to marketing@hillsdalehospital.com or submitted at hillsdalehospital.com/ruralhealthstrong. Learn more about how the One Big Beautiful Bill Act will impact healthcare at hillsdalehospital.com/Medicaid.
