At Ashley Regional Medical Center in Vernal, healthcare connects deeply with community, says CFO Justin Romney.
Why it matters:
Rural hospitals provide essential services for communities that would otherwise face long-distance travel for healthcare.
The big picture:
Romney highlights three core aspects of rural healthcare delivery:
- Community connection: “Ashley Regional does a really great job of engaging with the community. We try to be at as many local events as we can. We try to sponsor as many good causes as we can. And so I think that when you’re in a small community, there’s that greater sense of connection. It’s less of a feeling of you’re being treated as just a number and more of, you know, we’re partners in your care and trying to help you and help this community grow and be healthy.”
- Advanced technology: Through their partnership with LifePoint Health, the hospital can invest in needed equipment. “We’re lucky enough to be partnered with LifePoint,” Romney notes, which allows them “to make these big purchases that are needed in a healthcare environment to support that quality of care.”
- Financial accessibility: Romney emphasizes their approach to patients without insurance: “And when we get patients who do not have insurance… we don’t want to prevent anyone from getting care due to costs. So we want to work with those patients. We want to make sure that we are getting them the care that they need and working with them to make sure they can afford it.”
Between the lines:
Rural facilities often offer unique advantages for healthcare professionals beyond compensation.
“In a rural setting, there are a lot of great benefits to physicians, to any employee that you don’t get in the urban market,” Romney explains. “We’re not going to be able to compensate you necessarily as great as others in urban settings. But there are some true benefits to being here in our market. The community is amazing. The environment is fantastic. Vernal Utah specifically has some amazing scenery, some amazing wildlife and places to visit nearby,” Romney says.
The bottom line:
Rural hospitals like Ashley Regional balance community needs, technological advancement, and accessibility to deliver effective local healthcare.