Rural Health News is a weekly segment of Rural Health Today, a podcast by Hillsdale Hospital.
Welcome back to Rural Health News, the segment of Rural Health Today where we fill you in on the latest in rural health headlines. We’ll cover three headlines in today’s episode: what’s most urgent, a rural health damage report, and a success story to send us into the week.
Most Urgent
The US Centers for Disease Control & Prevention released a statement last week with the assurance it is investigating the nation-wide outbreak of cyclosporiasis, but the network that would once have provided data on the outbreak was scaled back last year by HR 1, or the One Big Beautiful Bill. Cyclosporiasis is an intestinal infection caused by a unicellular parasite that can contaminate food or water, most closely linked to fresh produce. Partially due to the rollback of public health funding, much is unknown about the origins, or even what food items are most likely carrying the parasite. Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network, or FoodNet, previously surveilled, tested and detected cyclospora, but now, its work is cut short, putting our country’s food safety network at risk.
Damage Report
In 2026, the national healthcare industry has seen 17 maternity service closures, adding onto 29 closures from 2025. Most recent closure announcements include labor and delivery at North Star health Alliance in New York, CHI Health Mercy Council Bluffs in Iowa, Brattleboro Memorial Hospital in Vermont, and OhioHealth. Consistent with the majority of maternity care closures we’ve seen this year and last, hospitals cited increased costs, low reimbursement and staffing challenges as the causes of closure.
Success Story
The Navajo Nation reservation, located across rural Arizona, New Mexico and Utah, is home to many veterans. Access to care often requires hours of travel time. The VA MISSION Act program is bridging this extensive gap in care by partnering with academic programs, hospitals and clinics to bring healthcare directly to veterans. So far, the program has served veterans and non-veterans living on the reservation, allowing access to preventative care, medication management and personalized attention within their community. This is a great example of innovation at work in rural health!
Sources
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Cyclosporiasis Outbreak with Unknown Source,” July 14, 2026, https://www.cdc.gov/cyclosporiasis/outbreaks/07-26/index.html.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Clinical Overview of Cyclosporiasis,” February 29, 2026, https://www.cdc.gov/cyclosporiasis/hcp/clinical-overview/index.html.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “About FoodNet,” April 28, 2018, https://www.cdc.gov/foodnet/about/.
American Medical Association, “Cyclospora,” Jul 9, 2026, https://www.ama-assn.org/public-health/infectious-diseases/cyclospora.
Lena Sun, “How much did CDC cuts really impact this cyclosporiasis outbreak?,” July 15, 2026, https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2026/07/15/how-much-did-cdc-cuts-really-impact-this-cyclosporiasis-outbreak/, The Washington Post.
Victoria Forster, “Unresolved Cyclospora Parasite Outbreak Raises Questions About CDC Cuts,” July 14, 2026, https://www.forbes.com/sites/victoriaforster/2026/07/13/unresolved-cyclospora-outbreak-raises-questions-over-cdc-cuts/, Forbes.
Madeline Scheetz, “17 maternity service closures in 2026,” July 14, 2026, https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/rural-health/rural-workforce/3-maternity-closures-in-3-weeks/, Becker’s Hospital Review.
Cheryl Whitney, “Bridging the distance: Bringing care closer to home for rural Veterans,” July 8, 2026, https://news.va.gov/148097/bringing-care-closer-home-rural-veterans/, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
Rural Health Today is a production of Hillsdale Hospital in Hillsdale, Michigan and a member of the Health Podcast Network. Our host is JJ Hodshire, our producer is Kyrsten Newlon, and our audio engineer is Kenji Ulmer. Special thanks to our special guests for sharing their expertise on the show, and also to the Hillsdale Hospital marketing team. If you want to submit a question for us to answer on the podcast or learn more about Rural Health Today, visit ruralhealthtoday.com.
