Hospital and state hospital association leaders are broadly supportive of the Rural Health Transformation Program’s promise to redesign care in rural communities. But they stress that the program’s true impact will depend on how the dollars are executed and distributed — and whether they actually reach hospitals.

In Nebraska, the initial plan has drawn frustration. Nebraska Hospital Association President and CEO Jeremy Nordquist told Becker’s that “it appears there is no clear, direct investment for this purpose in our state’s RHTP proposal.”

“Our members are very frustrated that this was sold to them, and the public at large, as a solution for protecting rural healthcare,” he said, adding that the association will continue to work with Gov. Jim Pillen’s administration to “improve the allocation of these funds and limit unnecessary, bureaucratic red tape that will prevent these funds from going towards saving healthcare for rural Nebraskans.”

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