Rural Healthcare

At the Clum Family Farm, bees buzz for peak honey-making season. And learn more about a rural health clinic in Susquehanna County bracing for the impact of Medicaid cuts.

Susquehanna Family Health Clinic provides primary care to thousands of patients, many of them Medicaid recipients. The family-owned clinic faces the possibility of closure as President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill goes into effect.

July 21, 2025 – Temple Dental is coming to Tamaqua with its brand new rural dentistry track. The program is set to start as early as 2026 with the goal of addressing gaps in rural dentistry. Northeast Pennsylvania’s first hip-hop festival returns this summer with more talent. And, book recommendations from Osterhout Free Library’s annual tent sale.

Temple Dental School plans to open a Tamaqua campus as soon as 2026. Administrators hope students will commit to practicing in rural areas after they complete their final two years of dental school in Tamaqua.

As the U.S. Senate tries to pass its version of the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act," rural health leaders in Wayne County are concerned by potential cuts to Medicaid.

Pennsylvania Health Secretary Dr. Debra Bogen joined rural health leaders at Wayne Memorial Hospital to talk about the impacts of the federal government’s proposed cuts to Medicaid.

Secretary Debra Bogen of the State Department of Health championed the Wyoming County State Health Center’s reopening in downtown Tunkhannock.

Sixty-eight state parks will have menstrual product dispensers, including 15 in northeast and north-central Pennsylvania.

The Trump administration’s recent cuts to the Department of Health and Human Services included billions of dollars in grants to the states. Gov. Josh Shapiro joined a multistate lawsuit against the administration, resulting in a temporary pause on the cuts. But Luzerne and Lackawanna county officials are left waiting on money that may not come.

People living in both rural and urban counties face unique barriers to accessible healthcare. School-based health centers help residents to overcome those obstacles, centering the schools as community hubs.