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Sheps Center Expert Weighs In on Use of AI to Address Rural Health Challenges

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As federal health leaders promote artificial intelligence and other advanced technologies as a way to stabilize struggling rural hospitals, rural health experts emphasize that technology alone cannot overcome long‑standing financial and workforce challenges.

A recent Washington Post article examines proposals from Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz, who have highlighted AI‑enabled tools as potential solutions for gaps in rural care. The Trump administration has also announced a $50 billion, five‑year Rural Health Transformation Fund intended to support innovation in rural communities.

George Pink, PhD, senior research fellow at the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research at UNC‑Chapel Hill, told the Post that the underlying problems facing rural hospitals remain severe. Nearly 200 rural hospitals have closed or converted to facilities offering fewer services over the past two decades, driven by workforce shortages, shrinking populations, and heavy reliance on Medicare and Medicaid — programs that reimburse providers at lower rates than private insurance.

Pink noted that while rural providers welcome new investment, they are also cautious.

“There’s a healthy amount of skepticism and caution,” Pink said, “but there’s optimism that the money will be helpful in transitioning, or in helping rural hospitals meet the challenges that they’re going to be facing over the next few years.”

The article highlights concerns that technology is sometimes oversold as a substitute for stable financing and an adequate health care workforce. Experts warn that AI cannot replace hands‑on clinical care and may not reflect the needs of rural patients, particularly older adults with complex conditions.

The Sheps Center has long studied rural hospital closures and access to care. Pink’s comments reinforce a core finding from that work: innovation can support rural health care, but lasting solutions require sustainable funding and human capacity.

 

Read the full Washington Post article by Lauren Weber, published March 24, 2026.