Establishing a rural hospital cooperative: a case study.

Rural hospitals have traditionally been the providers of health services in rural areas. In recent years, however, rural hospitals have come under increasing economic and regulatory stress. Rural hospital cooperatives represent a new level of shared management that addresses mutual problems using a horizontal organizational model.

An assessment of rural hospital trustees' health care knowledge base.

Rural hospital trustees are usually volunteers who serve important roles in the governance of a hospital and, therefore, in defining health care policy in their communities. Because most trustees are not health professionals, their orientation to the hospital and continuing education about the hospital present a special challenge to administrators. One hundred and three trustees from 10 rural hospitals in western New York were surveyed to better understand their demographics, their knowledge base regarding the hospital, and their roles as trustees.