Texas Directs Millions To Fix Rural Healthcare: See Map of West Texas Hospitals

Living in rural West Texas, we certainly have our luxuries that we can be grateful for, but one thing that we could see improvements on is our number of hospitals.

According to Texas Health and Human Services (HHS), some West Texas patients have to travel upwards of 109 miles to the nearest referral center. Women who are pregnant are also impacted, since many Texas counties require them to drive 70 miles or more to a hospital that will deliver their baby.

This map from HHS shows just how spread out rural hospitals are across the state:

Texas Health and Human Services

Because of this, Texas Governor Greg Abbott has just announced $281 million in grants to improve rural healthcare. The weapon with which this battle will be fought is something called Rural Texas Strong.

What's Rural Texas Strong?

I think a lot of tax-payers in West Texas get a sour taste in their mouth when they hear about another state plan that seemingly hands out money.

Hopefully it'll calm some nerves to know that Rural Texas Strong is completely federally funded, so don't worry about Uncle Sam's sticky fingers in your wallets... yet.

In fact, the $281 million will be used across West Texas and beyond for the following functions:

• Help reduce chronic disease through prevention, wellness, and nutrition
• Invest in consumer-facing technology to improve patients' health
• Deploy AI and telehealth services
• Recruit rural healthcare workers with career development, scholarships, relocation payments, and training programs
• Make improvements to cybersecurity defenses for patient data
• Upgrade rural hospital equipment and clinics

The only string attached to this is that the federal funding will only be awarded if all program requirements are met.

Regardless, these grants will be a huge boost to our rural healthcare in West Texas. It's just one step closer to making sure citizens out here are taken care of when our health is at risk.

This was just the latest from the Texas Governor webpage. Make sure to check regularly to see other announcements for our region and the rest of the state.