Rural Health News is a weekly segment of Rural Health Today, a podcast by Hillsdale Hospital.
We’ll cover three headlines today: what’s most urgent, a rural health damage report, and a success story to send us into the week.
Most Urgent
Last year’s spike in measles outbreaks isn’t over yet. At the end of 2025, the CDC had reported 2,281 measles cases, and so far in 2026, just under 1,000 have been diagnosed in less than two months. Last year, the highest concentrations of outbreaks were in Texas and South Carolina. This year, South Carolina continues to bear the brunt of cases, accounting for more than half of the outbreaks in 2026. Utah and Florida follow South Carolina, though not closely. Thankfully, no deaths have been accredited to measles yet in 2026, compared to three in 2025. All this data reflects the confirmed cases and does not include undiagnosed or unreported cases.
As a healthcare community, we need to make education a priority for our patients. Providing every opportunity to learn about and receive vaccinations is vital, especially in rural areas where more at-risk populations exist. However, a significant factor in the low immunization rates is the federal policies that have created a new level of difficulty for public health systems fighting an infectious disease. The lack of guidance and the undoing of many essential national healthcare entities have left a gap in America’s ability to fight back against measles outbreaks.
Damage Report
Cutting health services leaves care gaps that widen over time, putting vulnerable families at risk without access to the healthcare they need. In Idaho, hospitals are seeing the effect of service cuts in the worst possible way. After a healthcare organization eliminated their mental health service line at the end of November, 2025, three patients who were previously using the program’s mobile treatment have died of what healthcare leaders say were preventable causes, though specifics have not been announced.
The support services were closed in an effort to preserve the rest of the hospital as it struggled to meet budget requirements under the state’s Medicaid program, following a 4% cut to provider reimbursement. The mobile mental health teams that were serving patients with severe mental illness in their homes provided an essential intervention for the 400-500 patients receiving services through the program. Of that population, about 200 are tied to a federal lawsuit in an attempt to stop the contractor from cutting the service.
In rural communities, mental healthcare is one of the most at-risk services due to its reliance on Medicaid programs. As more cuts to reimbursement and coverage are made, we expect to see more closures like this, along with the ripple effect that carries for our rural families.
Success Story
A faculty-led academic team from Mercer University’s School of Medicine and Engineering in Georgia have developed inexpensive cricothyrotomy and chest tube trainers. These simulation devices are used to teach medical students and staff how to establish an airway in emergency scenarios. The goal of this project is not to replace high-end simulation devices already on the market, but to make employee training more accessible for rural healthcare systems.
Sources
Ella Ruder, “Magellan of Idaho to cut peer support, mobile mental health services,” November 21, 2025, https://www.beckersbehavioralhealth.com/behavioral-health-news/magellan-of-idaho-to-cut-peer-support-mobile-mental-health-services/, Becker’s Healthcare.
Ella Ruder, “Idaho providers link patient deaths to behavioral health program cuts,” February 20, 2026, https://www.beckersbehavioralhealth.com/behavioral-health-news/idaho-providers-link-patient-deaths-to-behavioral-health-program-cuts/, Becker’s Healthcare.
The Center for Disease Control, “Measles Cases and Outbreaks,” February 20, 2026, https://www.cdc.gov/measles/data-research/index.html.
Andrew Jones, “Hospitals Fighting Measles Confront a Challenge: Few Doctors Have Seen It Before,” February 24, 2026, https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/measles-outbreak-cdc-carolina-sc-nc-vaccines/, KFF Health News.
Andrea Honaker, “Mercer simulation devices aim to fill need in rural medical training,” February 24, 2026, https://den.mercer.edu/mercer-simulation-devices-aim-to-fill-need-in-rural-medical-training/, The Den.
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.
