NC Rural Health Research Program

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
- Utilization of Inpatient and Emergency Services by Rural and Urban Medicaid Enrollees Hannah Friedman, PhD, Kristie Thompson, MA, Lily Wang, PhD, Mark Holmes, PhD. December, 2024.
- Rural-Urban Medicaid and CHIP Enrollee Comparisons Using the 2019 T-MSIS Analytic File Kristie Thompson, MA, Hannah Friedman, PhD, Lily Wang, PhD, Mark Holmes, PhD. December, 2024.
- 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.
In the News
- Mark Holmes featured in “Officials discuss risks that rural communities face following hospital closures,” WBBJ Eyewitness News, 9/19/24
- George Pink quoted in “Rural North Carolina county to reopen closed hospital with help from new federal program,” CBS News, 9/16/24.
- George Pink quoted in “Counties most in need of cardiologists are the most likely to have none,” Washington Post, 7/29/24.
- George Pink quoted in “For some rural communities, a stripped-down hospital is better than none at all,” Stateline, 6/6/24.
- Tyler Malone quoted in “Report that includes Georgia shows new factors to consider in hospital financial risk,” Georgia Public Radio, 5/15/24.

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