{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"EPHC Stronger Together Podcast","title":"Why Rural Hospitals Are Stronger Together","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":883,"description":"Rural hospitals in this country are being asked to survive on shrinking margins, thinning workforces, and policy written by people who have never set foot in the communities they are deciding for. The Eastern Plains Healthcare Consortium exists because the hospitals of eastern Colorado concluded that competing with one another was a losing strategy.\nIn this first episode, EPHC President and CEO Zac D'Argonne and Vice President of Growth and Impact Jimmie Bailey III introduce the show and explain what it is for. They talk through why 2026 has been the hardest year either one has seen in rural health, what the Rural Health Transformation Program is actually delivering compared to what hospitals were promised, and how projected Medicaid reductions will land on facilities that have no cushion to absorb them. They also make the case that a rural hospital is rarely just a source of care. It is frequently the largest employer in its county, and when it closes, the town tends to follow within a decade.\nStronger Together is built for hospital leaders, board members, clinicians, policy staff, and anyone who wants to understand rural health from the inside rather than from a conference room in a metro area. Coming episodes will feature member hospital CEOs, regional and national best practice leaders, and voices from well outside Colorado.\nIf something is working at your hospital and other people ought to hear about it, write to us at podcast@easternplainshealth.org. We are looking for stories.\nWatch on YouTube and Spotify, or listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/RYcH51KJ4c5juAwyvEash37DczzhPIDnjH71Qk-6p1s/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9mMzBi/ZDU4MjZkYmE3ZjFl/NGZjZWMzZTAxYzA3/ZTM1My5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}