Building the Rural Healthcare Workforce: Challenges-and Strategies-in the Current Economy

Finding healthcare professionals and support staff to work in rural areas is challenging and may become more difficult in the future. Traditional approaches to recruiting and retaining rural healthcare workers have not been unequivocally proven effective, particularly with respect to remote rural areas. Even if effective strategies exist, the changing demography of rural areas and the realities of the current U.S. economy may make them quickly outmoded. New strategies must include technology use, and include immigrants and groups previously overlooked for recruitment to the health professions.