New Foundation Aims To Boost Rural Healthcare In Alabama

Doug Brewer, CEO of Whitfield Regional Hospital in Demopolis has been tabbed to serve on the nine-member board of directors for the new Alabama Rural Hospital Foundation (ARHF) introduced Wednesday.

According to a news release, the foundation is a private non-profit designed to provide direct funding for rural hospitals across Alabama.

The foundation will participate in the Alabama Rural Hospital Investment Program, which was created through legislation passed by State Rep. Terri Collins (R-Decatur) and Sen. April Weaver (R-Brierfield) and allows individuals, businesses, and corporations to receive dollar-for-dollar state tax credits for donations they make to benefit rural hospitals.

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Among the foundation's goals are keeping rural emergency rooms open, helping rural hospitals modernize, recruiting and retaining clinicians, expanding outpatient access, and better integrating with local employers and schools.

Alabama's rural hospitals have been operating in crisis mode for years, with funding issues forcing the closure of Carrollton's Pickens County Medical Center and more than a dozen other rural hospitals.

According to ARHF President of the Board Jamie Troutman, the rest of the rural hospitals are on life support: "Out of the 52 remaining, roughly half are considered to be at risk of closure, with 20 of them on the verge of shutting their doors any day."

The majority of Alabama is rural, and closures of medical facilities in those counties impact far more than emergency response times and healthcare. The closure of the Pickens County Medical Center in March 2020 has led to the loss of jobs and revenue and added to the difficulty faced by economic development leaders in recruiting new business and industry.

With the help of the Alabama Fire College, Lamar County, and area legislators, Pickens County has resolved its ambulance shortage, but the closest emergency provider is more than 30 miles away, in Tuscaloosa or Columbus, Mississippi. That creates dangerously long response times.

Last month, Governor Ivey announced her next steps in preparing to administer the Rural Health Transformation Program. President Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which Congress passed in July, includes the Rural Health Transformation Program, which empowers states to strengthen rural communities across America by improving healthcare access, quality, and outcomes by transforming the healthcare delivery system.

In a press release, Ivey stated, “Thanks to the One Big Beautiful Bill, Alabama and states across the country have an opportunity to make meaningful improvements in our rural healthcare systems. Alabama is a very rural state, and my goal is to ensure rural Alabamians have long-term and sustainable access to quality healthcare services.”

The governor's state team and the State Health Planning and Development Agency (SHPDA) are tasked with the development of an application for the Rural Health Transformation Program grant opportunity. The deadline for all states to submit applications is November 5, 2025.

Pickens County has not given up their fight to reopen their medical center, or at least the Emergency Room. “There are a lot of different avenues that we are pursuing right now. We’re working with Senator Britt’s office, and Tuberville has signed on also to try to get some amendments to the rural emergency hospital program,” District 61 Alabama House Representative Ron Bolton told Townsquare Media Tuscaloosa's public affairs program this past summer. "It is a long process," he added.