Pae co-hosts session to identify rural healthcare needs

OKLAHOMA CITY — Rep. Daniel Pae recently co-hosted an interim House study to help identify healthcare challenges facing rural Oklahomans, with an eye toward crafting help in the 2025 legislative session.

Pae and Rep. Arturo Alonso-Sandoval, D-Oklahoma City, hosted the session before the House Public Health Committee, one of numerous studies being held this Fall to help plan bills in a session that begins in February. Speakers included medical professionals from Lawton.

“A strong healthcare system is the backbone of a healthy economy, but when we fail to invest in rural healthcare, we fail our fellow Oklahomans,” said Pae, R-Lawton. “Without providing the right resources today, rural hospitals will continue to close their doors. These difficulties won’t just go away if we ignore the problem or resolve themselves unless we take targeted investment and action.”

According to the Oklahoma Hospital Association (OHA), Oklahoma’s healthcare spending per capita in 2023 was $9,444. The U.S. healthcare spending per capita was $10,191.

When speaking on operational challenges hospitals face, Rich Rasmussen, president and CEO of OHA, said total expenses were $2 billion higher in 2023 than pre-pandemic. He attributed the increase to rising labor costs, including contract labor expenses, as well as growing prices of utilities, drugs and supplies.

“The majority of hospitals dipped into their reserves to be able to cover operating costs,” he said.

Sean McAvoy, executive director of primary care services for Comanche County Memorial Hospital Authority, said there are several reasons why providers may not choose to go to rural areas. He said many rural areas lack facilities that meet healthcare standards, requiring new construction of healthcare facilities. Those areas also have a smaller workforce to recruit from, leading many healthcare providers to recruit new hires, which can be costly. Additionally, rural areas with fewer employees mean fewer people with employer-sponsored healthcare, which typically pays better rates to healthcare providers.

McAvoy said transportation presents a challenge in rural areas, especially for older adults, but telemedicine is an increasingly valuable tool to address certain healthcare concerns. He also pointed to mobile clinics as a good option to expand care in rural areas quickly, although he said they typically have high operational costs.

Melissa Alvillar, the chief nursing officer at Comanche County Memorial Hospital, said Oklahoma is ranked 49th nationally in healthcare outcomes.

“Hospitals such as ours are willing to grow and willing to add beds to facilitate the care that the rural environment needs, but we need the financial help to support that,” Alvillar said, adding healthcare providers need support from lawmakers to deliver the care Oklahomans deserve. “We have the ability to be higher in healthcare than 49th.”

She told attendees it’s hard to get people to join or stay in the healthcare workforce given the increase in physical assaults and threats against healthcare providers and, as a result, the cost of staff pay and benefits to retain employees is “through the roof,” further stressing hospital and clinic budgets.

Dr. Mark Woodring, vice chair of the Board of Rural Health Association of Oklahoma, highlighted the recent groundbreaking of a new hospital in Tillman County at Frederick, replacing a facility closed in 2016. Since that closure, Frederick and Tillman County residents have driven between 30 minutes to an hour to receive hospital-level care in other communities, including Lawton. The new hospital is funded in part by the Legislature’s appropriation of federal American Rescue Plan Act funds.

According to recent data, most of Oklahoma is a health professional shortage area, Woodring said. One suggestion he offered to improve rural health outcomes was creating a healthcare rural opportunity zone pilot program or offering state income tax exemptions or credits to providers who relocate.

“It’s creating maybe an additional incentive not to go into a specialty that’s going to pay them more,” he said.