Longstanding gaps in access to care—driven by hospital closures, workforce shortages, and underinvestment—have pushed many systems to the brink. But as new policy conversations take shape, there is also a rare opportunity to rethink how healthcare is delivered, financed and sustained in rural America.
In a recent opinion piece for RealClearHealth, NCBA CLUSA president and CEO Doug O’Brien highlights the role cooperatives can play in rebuilding rural healthcare from the ground up. By centering local ownership, shared governance and community-driven solutions, cooperatives offer a proven path to stabilize care delivery while keeping resources rooted in the communities they serve.
“The future of rural health depends on doing something fundamentally different: owning our health systems together,” O’Brien writes.