Rural Health
Research Gateway

Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs)

Research Findings

View publications, including policy briefs, working papers, and journal articles, on Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs):

Recaps

View one-page summary Recaps of key findings from the Rural Health Research Centers on Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs):

  • Post-Acute Care in Rural Areas: The Role of Swing Beds and Nursing Homes
    Date: 03/2024
    Patients who have received acute care services, but are not ready to safely return home, may transition to post-acute care (PAC). The PAC phase acts as a bridge between the hospital and the next steps to recovery. This Recap examines the roles that swing beds and nursing homes have in PAC.
  • Quality of Care in Rural Hospitals
    Date: 01/2019
    This Rural Health Research Recap looks at hospital quality-of-care measures and the difficulties of developing quality measures, especially for rural hospitals with low patient volumes.
  • Rural Hospital Closures: 2023 Update
    Date: 06/2023
    From 2005 through 2022, 186 rural hospitals either closed completely or converted to facilities that no longer provide in-patient care. This Recap explores the current state of rural hospital closures in the United States.

Webinars

Access information on upcoming or archived webinars on Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs).

Projects on this Topic

Learn more about the research questions guiding each study, the lead researcher for each, and when the Research Center anticipates releasing completed product(s) under each project.