April 28, 2025 News Update: Measles Outbreaks, New Hospital Closures, and a New Strategy to Cultivate Talent

Rural Health News is a weekly segment of Rural Health Today, a podcast by Hillsdale Hospital. News sources for this episode: Alex Montero et. al, “KFF Tracking Poll on Health Information and Trust: The Public’s Views on Measles Outbreaks and Misinformation,” April 23, 2025, https://www.kff.org/health-information-and-trust/poll-finding/kff-tracking-poll-on-health-information-and-trust-the-publics-views-on-measles-outbreaks-and-misinformation/, KFF Health News. CDC SchoolVaxView, “Vaccination Coverage and Exemptions among Kindergartners,” October 2, 2024, https://www.cdc.gov/schoolvaxview/data/index.html. Bram Sable-Smith et. al, “Slashed Federal Funding Cancels Vaccine Clinics Amid Measles Surge,” April 9, 2025, https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/vaccine-clinics-canceled-measles-surge-federal-funding-cuts/, KFF Health News. Madeline Ashley, “4 hospital closures in 2 weeks,” April 22, 2025, https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/finance/4-hospital-closures-in-2-weeks/?origin=BHRE&utm_source=BHRE&utm_medium=email&utm_content=newsletter&oly_enc_id=8018I7467278H7C, Becker’s Hospital Review. Richard Menger, MD, MPA, “Hospital Job Cuts Leave Local Economies Struggling,” April 2, 2025, https://www.forbes.com/sites/richardmenger/2025/04/02/when-hospitals-slash-jobs-towns-suffer-economic-pain/, Forbes. Madeline Ashley, “Prime to suspend pediatric inpatient care at Illinois hospital,” April 23, 2025, https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/finance/prime-to-end-pediatric-inpatient-care-at-illinois-hospital/, Becker’s Hospital Review. Kelly Gooch, “Providence freezes nonclinical hiring amid economic ‘perfect storm,’” April 21, 2025, https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/finance/providence-freezes-nonclinical-hiring-amid-economic-perfect-storm/, Becker’s Hospital Review. Paige Minemyer, “Walgreens launches program to support pharmacy techs in securing a PharmD,” April 23, 2025, https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/retail/walgreens-launches-program-support-pharmacy-techs-securing-pharmd, Fierce Healthcare. Rural Health Today is a production of Hillsdale Hospital in Hillsdale, Michigan and a member of the Health Podcast Network. Our host is JJ Hodshire, our producer is Kyrsten Newlon, and our audio engineer is Kenji Ulmer. Special thanks to our special guests for sharing their expertise on the show, and also to the Hillsdale Hospital marketing team. If you want to submit a question for us to answer on the podcast or learn more about Rural Health Today, visit ruralhealthtoday.com