Experts in the healthcare industry are concerned that treating COVID-19 long-haulers will further strain rural hospitals' capacity and finances, particularly with infection rates being higher in rural communities than urban communities, The Daily Yonder reported Dec. 7.
This could add to the challenges rural communities already experience, where many patients are older, sicker and poorer, Carrie Hennie Smith, PhD, the deputy director of the Minneapolis-based University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center, told The Daily Yonder. She said it could also create a bigger financial burden on hospitals.
"Rural residents have higher rates of uninsurance, which might result in more uncompensated COVID-related care for rural health care facilities. … There's still so much we don't know about long-term COVID and the full scope of its impact," she said.
It may be too soon to tell what the long-term implications will be, National Rural Health Association COO Brock Slabach told The Daily Yonder.
"The honest answer is we just don't know the impact yet," Mr. Slabach said. "I know clinicians are struggling to even identify it when they see it. Then there is the cascade of symptoms that can manifest, all of them chronic in nature. … This could be a huge cost to the American healthcare system."