TORCH Conference Tackles Rural Hospital Crisis

0:00Arlington, Texas, just hosted the biggest meet-up of rural health care leaders in the country, the Texas organization of rural and community hospitals, conference, or TOR for its third straight year. These folks are tackling the crisis-hating small town hospitals hard, especially with uncompensated care costs piling up. A new player showed up this time, Peter Justin and his team from Ameritrust Solutions out of Washington, D.C. They are simplifying the messy Medicaid application process to help hospitals get pay for treating folks who can't cover the bill. Justin Liz Roel himself, and knows firsthand how a 20-minute drive to the hospital, could turn into an hour-and-a-half nightmare if it shuts down. Texas leads the nation in uncompensated care, racking up between $7.8 billion a year and it's worsening. In 2010 to 2020, 26 rural hospitals closed here, but only three have gone under since then. Still, leaders worry, with 50 to 80 more on the edge of creating care deserts.

1:03Torches president and CEO, John Henderson, points out the pressure from recent Medicaid cuts, though Texas as a non-expansion state dodges the worst. Local experts like State Rep Spiller are pushing federal fixes to reopen spots like the one in Montague County that just shuttered. This conference brings together health pros, politicians, and innovators to link arms and keep those doors open, ensuring rural Texans get the care. They need without the long hauls. Local news, powered by AI. This is El Paso News today. I'm Corey with the story.