NC Rural Health Research Program

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The North Carolina Rural Health Research Program (NC RHRP) at the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research seeks to address problems in rural health care delivery through basic research, policy-relevant analyses, geographic and graphical presentation of data, and the dissemination of information to organizations and individuals who can use the information for policy or administrative purposes to address complex social issues affecting rural populations.

NC RHRP’s research involves primary data collection, analysis of large secondary data sets, and in-depth policy analysis. The program’s diverse, multidisciplinary team includes multidisciplinary health care professionals, along with experts in biostatistics, geography, epidemiology, sociology, anthropology, and political science. Our active dissemination component emphasizes the use of geographic methods in research.

NC RHRP is built upon a more than 40-year history of rural health research at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and draws on the experience of a wide variety of scholars and researchers, analysts, managers, and health service providers associated with the Center.

These projects are funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Federal Office of Rural Health Policy.

Recent Publications

For more, visit Publications Use a key word search to find your topic.

  • The First Year of Rural Emergency Hospitals: REHs Serve Relatively Disadvantaged Counties Young H. Kim, MSPH , Julie R. Perry, Kristie Thompson, MA, George H. Pink, PhD. October, 2024.
  • News Media Coverage of Rural Hospital Closures and the Causes Harini Somanchi, Julie Perry, Kristie Thompson, MA, George H. Pink, PhD. October, 2024.
  • Differences in Measurement of Operating Margin: An Update Jessie Ma, BSPH, Susie Gurzenda, MPH, Kristin L. Reiter, PhD, George H. Pink, PhD. May, 2024.
  • Using the Updated Financial Distress Index to Describe Relative Risk of Hospital Financial Distress Tyler L. Malone, PhD, George H. Pink, PhD, Kristie Thompson, MA, G. Mark Holmes, PhD. April, 2024.
  • A Comparison of 2017-19 Uncompensated Care of Rural and Urban Hospitals by Net Patient Revenue, System Affiliation, and Ownership Emmaline Keesee, MSPH, Susie Gurzenda, MS, Kristie Thompson, MA, George H. Pink, PhD. July, 2023.