The Big Picture
During a recent Utah Hospital Association conference, Congressman Mike Kennedy brought a clear message to healthcare leaders: Washington should work for Utah’s hospitals and patients—not the other way around.
Kennedy, a family physician who has also served in the Utah House and Senate, said his experience in healthcare shapes how he approaches his work in Congress. He emphasized the importance of bringing Utah’s collaborative, practical approach to Washington and ensuring that federal policymakers understand the realities facing hospitals, clinicians and patients.
“One of the constant thoughts in my mind is I am deeply invested in bringing Utah to Washington instead of Washington back to Utah,” Kennedy said.
His remarks focused on several connected priorities: protecting rural hospitals, making healthcare systems work better for patients, removing unnecessary barriers to federal resources, combating fraud and building bipartisan relationships that can produce practical results.
What’s Happening
Kennedy said healthcare policy is often shaped by complicated systems that were created decades ago and have not kept pace with the needs of patients or providers. Those outdated structures can contribute to higher costs, confusing payment models and regulations that make it harder for hospitals and clinicians to focus on care.
He argued that decisions should return to a basic principle: patients and their healthcare professionals should drive care, while hospital systems and government programs should support that relationship.
Rural healthcare was a central part of his message. Kennedy noted that some communities have no realistic alternative to their local hospital because the next source of care may be many miles away. He voiced support for stronger Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement for rural facilities, recognizing that low patient volume does not reduce the importance—or the operating costs—of keeping essential care available.
Kennedy also discussed the $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Fund approved by Congress. While the funding represents a significant opportunity, he said hospitals may still encounter administrative barriers that slow or complicate access. He committed to working with Utah healthcare leaders to identify those obstacles and help ensure that the resources Congress authorized reach eligible communities.
At the same time, Kennedy described federal efforts to reduce waste, fraud and abuse across programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act. He said enforcement is essential to protect taxpayers and preserve resources for legitimate patients and providers—but stressed that safeguards should not prevent honest healthcare organizations from receiving the support they need.
Why It Matters
For rural Utah, a hospital is more than a healthcare facility. It is critical infrastructure that allows families to live, work and grow older in their communities with confidence that care will be available when they need it.
Keeping those hospitals open requires policies that reflect the realities of rural care. A rural emergency department, for example, must maintain trained staff, equipment and readiness even when patient volumes are lower than those of an urban facility. Payment models that focus only on volume can overlook the value of maintaining that access.
Kennedy also emphasized that effective advocacy depends on strong relationships between hospital leaders and elected officials. Healthcare professionals understand where policies create unintended consequences, but policymakers cannot address those problems unless they hear directly from the people doing the work.
“We need to know each other,” Kennedy said, explaining that relationships allow him to raise Utah-specific concerns when opportunities arise with congressional colleagues or federal officials.
That same relationship-building shapes his approach to bipartisanship. Kennedy said much of Congress’s routine bipartisan work receives little public attention because conflict and controversy dominate the news. Behind the scenes, however, lawmakers from both parties regularly collaborate on shared priorities. He pointed to work involving artificial intelligence, wildfire response, fentanyl deaths and human trafficking as examples of issues where common ground can lead to action.
The Bottom Line
Kennedy’s message to Utah healthcare leaders was both an assurance and an invitation: he intends to advocate for hospitals and patients in Washington, but he needs healthcare professionals and communities to keep sharing what is working, what is not and where federal policy creates unnecessary barriers.
That partnership will be especially important as Utah seeks to protect rural hospitals, access federal transformation funding and navigate the difficult balance between preventing fraud and ensuring timely support for legitimate providers.
Kennedy said he remains committed to practical problem-solving, civil dialogue and collaboration across political differences. For Utah’s hospitals, the goal is straightforward: preserve local access to care, direct resources where they are genuinely needed and keep patients—not bureaucracy—at the center of the healthcare system.
“We want to make sure we’re serving you well,” Kennedy said, “as we make sure Washington’s working for you instead of you working for Washington.”