• michele miller, Biological Sciences, University of Delaware

• Eileen Loftus, Science Communication, Nemours Children’s Hospital

How a Multistate Children’s Hospital Reaches Rural Populations

 Nemours Children’s Hospital, Michele Miller

Rural healthcare, also referred to as Critical Access, is a multifaceted issue in healthcare that has been studied extensively for some time. Many smaller, more rural communities have significantly less access to medical resources we take for granted in heavily populated areas. Things like transportation, affordability, access to Wi-Fi/service, and access to medical specialists are hard to come by, leaving rural residents vulnerable. In Delaware, about 38-40% of the population lives in rural areas, yet the state has only five Federally Qualified Health Centers. That combined with the fact that rural populations are more likely to be older, deal with more chronic health conditions, and impoverished leaves them even more vulnerable. A rural county in Delaware, Sussex County, had a growth rate from 2010-2022 that was 3.8 (280%) larger than the national average. This growth coupled with an already strained medical infrastructure can lead to worse patient outcomes and physician retention. However, Delaware has begun several programs to help combat this issue, both at the state government level and at Nemours Children’s Health. Initiatives like the J1 program, School-Based Health Clinics, and Rural Healthcare grants and others are making strides for bringing care to those in affected areas.