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As National Rural Health Day approaches on Nov. 20, the Kansas Health Institute (KHI) has released new research highlighting how the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP) supports and strengthens rural health systems in Kansas and across the country.

Rural communities often face major challenges, including long travel distances for care, workforce shortages and higher death rates from conditions like heart disease and cancer. Kansas has 341 rural health facilities, but many are struggling. Eighty-four percent of rural hospitals are operating at a loss, and nearly one-third are at immediate risk of closing, the highest rate in the nation.

“Rural communities bring tremendous resilience, innovation and deep local expertise to meet the unique needs of their communities,” said Shelby Rowell, KHI analyst. 

KHI’s research shows that FORHP has a strict grant process, which can be hard for smaller organizations but helps make sure projects are well-managed and effective. From 2019 to 2023, just over half of the awards (53%) went to fully rural counties, but most of the money was given to areas that were not fully rural. During that time, FORHP gave out 4,088 grants totaling $2.32 billion, with the most funding going to COVID-19 response efforts. Kansas received almost $71.9 million, the seventh-highest amount of any state.