Current Rural Health Issues in Florida

The health of Florida’s rural residents is an ongoing concern.  To address these concerns, the Florida Office of Rural Health has identified priority issues and developed a Rural Health Plan to establish policy toward resolving issues relating to health and health care services for rural residents.  Rural issues include:

• There are disproportionately high mortality rates relative to urban areas for selected diseases and for particular population groups; e.g., higher infant mortality and higher rates of motor vehicle-related deaths.
• There are large populations of uninsured/underinsured persons in rural communities, usually exceeding the proportions observed in urban communities.
• Emergency Medical Services in rural areas have severe recruitment/retention problems resulting from low pay and inadequate or no benefits for Emergency Medical Technicians and Paramedics.
• Health personnel, including physicians, nurses, dentists, and other direct service providers are maldistributed across the state, often with actual surpluses in urban areas and shortages in rural areas.
• Rural community members often lack physical and/or financial access to dental, mental, and/or visual health services.
• Rural hospitals typically suffer financial hardships due to small community sizes, lack of health insurance in their communities, overall lower incomes in their communities, lower levels of Medicare reimbursement, outdated/aging physical plants, and constantly increasing costs due to technological innovations and costs of pharmaceuticals and other supplies.