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2025 Rural Health Journalism Workshop

  • August 21
  • Atlanta

AHCJ’s annual Rural Health Workshop in Atlanta on Aug. 21 brought together journalists, researchers, policy experts and service providers from across the country to talk about the state of rural health care access and, especially, the impact of federal spending cuts.

Jump to: Session summaries and recordings

The rural story: An update on rural health, data, and data challenges in 2025

Casey Balio, Ph.D., from East Tennessee State University, presented on rural health data, highlighting key demographic and health indicators. She discussed how rural areas often lag behind urban areas in various metrics like health care access, poverty rates and vaccination rates. However, she also emphasized the strengths of rural communities, such as lower crime rates and strong social networks. Balio noted limitations in rural data, including small sample sizes and challenges in capturing certain populations. She urged caution when interpreting provisional data and the importance of considering the context and limitations when reporting on rural health issues.

Casey Balio, Ph.D., is a research assistant professor at the East Tennessee State University Center for Rural Health and Research and the Department of Health Services Management and Policy. Her research focuses on the intersection of rural health, health policy and public health. She is also a member of the ETSU/NORC Rural Health Research Center, which focuses on conducting policy-relevant rural health research, and the Consortium for Workforce Research in Public Health, which focuses on public health systems and workforce research.

How cuts to Medicaid and SNAP will affect rural communities

Panelists Kevin Bennett, Ph.D., Gina Plata-Nino, J.D., and Katherine Hempstead, Ph.D., discussed the impact of the Trump tax law, which includes significant cuts to SNAP and Medicaid, which are lifelines in rural communities. Plata-Nino noted that the law reduces SNAP benefits, increases administrative costs for states and expands work requirements, which will likely result in millions of people losing access to the program.

Hempstead highlighted that the law enacts a historic cut to Medicaid, making it harder for people to stay in the program and reducing funding to states, which will affect rural hospitals and health care access. Bennett pointed out it isn’t just that rural hospitals will close; communities will experience economic downturns as the result of those closures, which have a ripple effect. The panelists touched on possible responses, including universal school meals and rethinking health care as a utility in rural areas.

Renuka Rayasam joined KFF Health News as a senior correspondent in 2022. She’s part of the Southern bureau, based in Atlanta. Previously, Rayasam worked for Politico, the Austin American-Statesman and U.S. News & World Report. She also freelanced from Berlin for newspapers and magazines, including The New Yorker, The Atlantic, the Los Angeles Times, and The Wall Street Journal. She has a master’s in international affairs from Columbia University and a bachelor’s in German and political economy from the University of California-Berkeley.

Kevin Bennett, Ph.D., is a professor of family & preventive medicine at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine in Columbia, SC, and serves as the director of the South Carolina Center for Rural and Primary Healthcare. He also serves as the immediate past president of the National Rural Health Association. His work focuses on improving health care delivery for marginalized and underserved communities, particularly in rural areas, while examining the influence of national, state, or local policies and legislation on these populations. He also has an extensive publication history examining the disparities in health care access, quality and outcomes experienced by rural populations.

Gina Plata-Nino rejoined FRAC in December 2024 as the SNAP deputy director. Previously, she served as a senior policy advisor for Nutrition and Agriculture in the Biden-Harris Administration’s Domestic Policy Council, where she helped lead the National Strategy on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health. In this role, she worked with federal agencies and private stakeholders to advance the goal of ending hunger and diet-related diseases by 2030. At FRAC, Plato-Nino collaborates with the SNAP team to improve the program’s reach and effectiveness for low-income households. She leads legislative and technical support efforts for national, state, and community organizations, as well as government agencies and nonprofits, to strengthen SNAP access, benefits and customer service.

Katherine Hempstead, Ph.D., is a senior policy officer at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. She works on health care issues, mostly those related to health insurance, costs, and access to care. She is the author of a recent book, “Uncovered: The Story of Insurance in America,” (Oxford, 2024), which is a history of the insurance business in the United States and its relationship with the state and federal government.

Lessons from Georgia’s Medicaid work requirements

Panelists Leah Chan, MPH, and Deanna Williams discussed Georgia’s experience with Medicaid work requirements, which resulted in only 8,000 people being enrolled of the 240,000 eligible. Most of the funds allocated to the program were spent on administrative systems rather than benefits, they noted. Challenges included complex enrollment processes, low awareness in rural areas and the need for better infrastructure.

Williams said many of her clients were unaware of the program, despite state awareness initiatives. The panelists emphasized that while work requirements sound good on paper, the practical implementation is very difficult for eligible people, particularly in rural areas where documentation and verification of work can be difficult — not to mention the barrier presented by the digital divide.

Sam Whitehead is a correspondent covering the south for KFF Health News from his base just outside Atlanta. He previously worked as a health care reporter for public radio station WABE, where he chronicled the COVID-19 pandemic as host of the award-winning podcast “Did You Wash Your Hands?” Before that, he was a general assignment reporter and fill-in radio host at Georgia Public Broadcasting. He also co-founded a long-running nightly news program on WRFI Community Radio in Ithaca, New York. He’s a graduate of Emory University.

Leah Chan is the director of health justice at the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute (GBPI). GBPI is a non-partisan, nonprofit research and advocacy organization that focuses on the state’s budget and expanding economic opportunity and well-being. Chan uses data-driven and human-centered analysis and advocacy to champion policies that give all Georgians a fair shot at good health. Before joining GBPI in 2022, Chan worked for over a decade at the CDC in strategic partnership, policy, and communication roles. Chan holds a master’s of Public Health from Emory University.

Deanna Williams serves as the Central Georgia Health Insurance Navigator for Georgians for a Healthy Future. In this role, she provides health insurance enrollment assistance, community outreach, and education across ten central Georgia counties: Baldwin, Bibb, Crawford, Houston, Jones, Monroe, Peach, Putnam, Twiggs, and Wilkinson. Williams works closely with local organizations and residents to ensure individuals and families understand their health coverage options and can make informed decisions. Williams holds a B.S. in psychology with a minor in sociology from Georgia Southern University. She also became a certified Medicare counselor for the State of Georgia. Her career began at the Department of Family and Children Services in Bibb County, where she supported families in need.

How ​being ​disconnected is ​killing ​rural Americans

Panelists Eric Lind, Ph.D., and Megan Waiters — along with KFF chief rural correspondent Sarah Jane Tribble, whose recent project “Dead Zone” delved deeply into the lack of primary care and telehealth in rural areas — talked about the impact of transportation and internet access (and familiarity) on people who live in non-urban areas. Waiters explained her role as a digital navigator in Alabama and seeing some of her clients’ health improve as they learned basic online skills that allowed them to manage their own health care. Lind discussed the relationship between transportation access and health and how long travel times can negatively impact essential health services.

Sarah Jane Tribble is the lead reporter on the rural health desk of KFF Health News. She created the organization’s first narrative podcast, “Where It Hurts,” about the closure of a rural Kansas hospital. An Emmy winner, she has received honors for her work from the National Press Club, the National Institute for Health Care Management, and the Association of Health Care Journalists. Before joining KFF Health News, she covered the health care industry in Cleveland for NPR and PBS and spent more than a decade as a reporter for major newspapers in several cities from the Carolinas to California.

Eric Lind is the director of the Accessibility Observatory at the University of Minnesota Center for Transportation Studies. He leads the research group that measures access to destinations, such as to jobs, grocery stores, and health care facilities, by driving, walking, cycling, and public transit, for origins across the U.S. His research areas include understanding travel behavior by measuring the built environment and evaluating public transit systems. Eric holds a doctorate from the University of Maryland.

Megan Waiters is a digital navigator for Community Service Programs of West Alabama. In her role, she travels throughout the 10-county rural service area, teaching digital skills, distributing digital devices and assisting clients with gaining discounts on their home internet services.

The inside story: Voices from the front line workforce

Panelists Nikki Bryant, PharmD, Sheena Favors, D.O., M.S., and Spencer Windham talked about their experiences as, respectively, a pharmacist, obstetrician-gynecologist, and owner/operator of nursing homes in rural America. They discussed the significant workforce challenges they face, highlighting shortages across pharmacies, clinics and nursing homes.

Bryant talked about the complex credentialing process and cross-training of staff she needs to maintain her operations. Windham emphasized the need for creative solutions to retain staff and the importance of consistency in caregiving in nursing homes. With panelist Brock Slabach, MPH, COO of the National Rural Health Association, providing the broader perspective, the panelists agreed that transportation barriers, reimbursement rates and a lack of data on health care workforce distribution are hindering rural health care access. They also discussed the impact of immigration policies on staffing.

Ariel Hart is a reporter on health care issues at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and has covered how patients experience health challenges, health insurance, hospitals, doctors and health care shortages. She is particularly interested in exploring what helps and harms patients. Hart’s work has earned multiple awards, including sharing the national Scripps Howard prize for investigative reporting with her team and a finalist placement for the Pulitzer Prize in national reporting. She also won the Georgia Associated Press Association’s first-place award in beat reporting.

Nikki Adams Bryant, PharmD, is a 1999 Andrew College alumna and a graduate of Mercer University College of Pharmacy. She owns an independent pharmacy and rural health clinic in Preston and an independent pharmacy in Cuthbert. Her pharmacies serve patients in 14 Southwest Georgia counties. Dr. Bryant is aware of the negative impact of food deserts and is involved in operating her family’s grocery store in Preston to prevent disruptions in food access.

She has a passion for politics. Over the last six years, she has collaborated with lobbyists and lawmakers to pass five bills and increase pharmacy reimbursement in Georgia. She is currently pursuing a Masters in Public Health at Johns Hopkins University.

Dr. Bryant has been recognized by the National Community Pharmacy Association, Mercer University, the Georgia Pharmacy Association, the Georgia Department of Community Health, Andrew College, the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Pharmacy Times Magazine, and Georgia Trend and has received numerous awards and recognitions for her achievements throughout her career.

Sheena Favors, D.O., M.S., FACOOG, serves as the co-director of Women’s Services Program at Albany Area Primary Health Care and is a board-certified obstetrician and gynecologist in Albany, Georgia. She is a highly-trained, highly-skilled physician who is committed to assisting her patients with their health care needs from pregnancy, pregnancy loss, and other gynecological services such as fibroid management and menstrual irregularities. She also focuses on learning new and innovative techniques to assist in the treatment of GYN pathology. Dr. Favors is also a fellow of The American Congress of Osteopathic Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

Brock joined NRHA staff in 2008.

He has administrative responsibility for all areas of member services, including membership, communications, and meetings/exhibitions.

He was a rural hospital administrator for more than 21 years and has served on the board of the National Rural Health Association and the regional policy board of the American Hospital Association.

Brock specializes in rural health system development that encompasses population health and the varied payment programs moving rural providers into value-based purchasing models. He serves on the Board of Commissioners of Accreditation Commission for Health Care (ACHC) and Board of Directors for the Pennsylvania Rural Health Redesign Center Organization (RHRCO).

Brock is the 2015 recipient of the Calico Quality Leadership Award of the National Rural Health Resource Center, received the American Society of Healthcare Pharmacists (ASHP) Board of Directors’ Award of Honor for 2018 and the NRHA’s President’s Award in 2023.

Brock earned a master of public health degree in health administration from the University of Oklahoma and is a fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives.

Spencer Windham is a third-generation long-term care provider, owner and operator of two skilled care facilities and two assisted living facilities. During his time as administrator (2013-2022) at the Oaks Nursing Home, which has been in his family since 1956, Windham achieved the highest CMS rating of five stars, an AHCA Bronze Award, the GHCA Quality Awards and was recognized by the US News and World Report as one of Georgia’s top 10 skilled care facilities. He also accomplished three consecutive deficiency-free surveys and was nominated to represent Georgia on the national level by participating in the American Health Care Association Future Leaders program in 2017. Windham has also served in several leadership roles with the Georgia Health Care Association Board from 2016 to present, including vice president of the West Central Council, president of the West Central Council and Board Member at Large, Owner/Operator Chair and Political Action Chair.

Understanding the opioid epidemic’s toll on rural America

Panelists Jessica Schwind, Ph.D., MPH, and Irene Walker, MPH, emphasized that overdose trends vary significantly between counties and regions and the importance of understanding local solutions to overdose. Walker talked about the work of overdose response teams in enhancing collaboration between public health and safety. They advised journalists to be aware of stigmatizing language and imagery, to focus on re-entry stories and to understand that recovery is non-linear.

Jaymie Baxley is an award-winning reporter for North Carolina Health News, where he covers health issues affecting rural communities and the state’s Medicaid program. He previously covered public safety, local government and the COVID-19 pandemic for The Pilot in Southern Pines. Before that, he worked for The Robesonian in Lumberton and The Daily Courier in Forest City. His byline has appeared in The News & Observer, The Fayetteville Observer and other North Carolina-based publications. Baxley has received 16 journalism awards from the North Carolina Press Association since 2014 and three awards from the National Newspaper Association since 2020. He is also a former interim president of the North Carolina chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.

Jessica Schwind, Ph.D., MPH, is an epidemiologist and director of the Institute for Health Logistics & Analytics at Georgia Southern University. Her research centers on disease surveillance, public health capacity building and risk communication for health threat prevention and response. As institute director, she leads projects using evidence-based practices and technology integration to optimize community health. Through partnerships with local, state, and national organizations, the IHLA provides a wide range of essential services on topics including zoonotic disease prevention and opioid harm reduction. Dr. Schwind holds a bachelor’s from Georgia Tech and a master’s in public health from New York Medical College. She has a doctorate in infectious disease epidemiology from UC Davis.

Irene Walker, MPH, is a public health professional with over a decade of experience in epidemiology, overdose surveillance and public health research. She serves as a technical advisor for the CDC Foundation’s Overdose Response Strategy (ORS), supporting eight jurisdictions in strengthening collaboration between public health and public safety. She co-leads the ORS Data Learning Community, offering resources on surveillance, analytics, and data integration. Previously, she spent nearly seven years as an epidemiologist focused on drug overdose and chronic disease at the state level. She holds a Master of Public Health in Epidemiology from the University of Georgia.

How to overcome the barriers to vaccination in rural America

Panelists Noel Brewer, Ph.D., Sarah Brewer, Ph.D., and Sophia Newcomer, Ph.D., MPH, talked about barriers to vaccination in rural areas and recent, cataclysmic changes to the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). Newcomer and Sarah Brewer presented data showing persistently lower vaccination rates in rural areas, attributing this to structural and logistical issues and health beliefs. They said these barriers could be addressed through multi-pronged approaches and community engagement.

Noel Brewer — a former ACIP member — discussed the recent ACIP shake-up and the game-changing removal of 17 voting members from the committee. He pointed out that new members lack pediatric and/or infectious disease experience and potential chaos in vaccine policy and recommendations. The future of vaccine policy could go in several different directions — none of them reliant on ACIP, he said.

Tara Haelle is an independent science/health journalist, author, speaker, and AHCJ’s health beat leader for infectious diseases. Haelle is also the author of “Vaccination Investigation and The Informed Parent,” and her work has appeared in National Geographic, Scientific American, Texas Monthly, Science News, Medscape/WebMD, and The New York Times, among others. She specializes in public health and medical research, particularly vaccines, infectious diseases, maternal and pediatric health, mental health, health care disparities and misinformation. Haelle earned a master’s in photojournalism from the University of Texas at Austin. And she was a Texas public high school teacher before working full-time in journalism.

Sophia Newcomer, Ph.D., MPH, is an associate professor of epidemiology at the University of Montana’s School of Public and Community Health Sciences. Her research focuses on vaccine safety, measurement of vaccination uptake, and immunization services delivery, with an emphasis on addressing vaccination challenges in rural areas.

Noel Brewer, Ph.D., is a behavioral scientist who studies vaccination, tobacco cessation and other health behaviors. His research examines why people get vaccinated, how to enhance patient communication and explores other interventions to improve coverage. Dr. Brewer has advised on HPV vaccination for the President’s Cancer Panel under Presidents Obama and Trump, as well as for the Biden Cancer Initiative. He has also advised the CDC, WHO and other organizations on assessing the behavioral and social drivers of vaccine uptake. To improve the efficacy of HPV vaccination communication, Brewer developed the Announcement Approach Training, which has been recognized by the National Cancer Institute and used nationally.

Sarah Brewer, Ph.D., MPA, is an assistant professor of family medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. Dr. Brewer is a health services researcher and health behavior scientist who uses qualitative and mixed-methods as well as community-engaged research methods to address complex health care challenges in primary and preventive health settings. Brewer has conducted research on immunization delivery and vaccination for 15 years. Driven by her experiences growing up in the rural Midwest, she focuses much of her research on rural and underserved communities.

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