NRHA Services Corporation: 20 years of trustworthy rural health partners

Michael HasselAt Melissa Memorial Hospital, a 15-bed critical access hospital in Holyoke, Colo., CEO Michael Hassel needs vendors and service providers he can trust. Like many rural hospitals, Melissa Memorial has limited resources, and staff must do more with less. That’s why Hassel’s relationship with NRHA Services Corporation, which provides tailored, affordable, and high-quality solutions for rural health care providers, has been so vital to his facility’s success.

“As a rural hospital CEO, the real value in NRHA Services Corps is the trust I can place in every vendor,” says Hassel, a former NRHA Rural Health Fellow and graduate of NRHA’s Rural Hospital CEO Certification Program. “Knowing vendors are vetted for honesty as well as deep understanding of the rural space means I can count on any one of them to help further the goals and objectives of my hospital.”

Founded in 2006, NRHASC has spent the last two decades helping rural health care providers across the country access the expertise they need in everything from accreditation, revenue cycle, and finance to construction, specialty care, and staffing. By partnering with trusted vendors, nonprofits, and other organizations, NRHASC offers a one-stop shop for rural health care organizations needing service providers that understand the unique nuances of their market.

NRHA CEO Alan Morgan“There’s this misconception that rural is just a small version of urban, and it’s not,” says NRHA CEO Alan Morgan. “So often businesses simply don’t understand the rural environment. NRHASC is a great way to screen potential vendors and make sure they’re reasonably priced and relevant to rural, which is such a great service to provide to our members.”

The vetting process is an important part of what makes NRHASC so valuable to members. With nearly 20 years of experience working in the rural market, NRHASC CEO Larry Bedell and Kodi Smith, director of rural partnerships, play a vital role in ensuring potential partners not only offer fair and valuable services but also have experience with rural hospitals.

“They have a robust system to secure references from multiple individuals to make sure the vendor being considered has the wherewithal and ability to provide what they say they’re going to provide,” says NRHA COO Brock Slabach. “We want to make sure that they have a sensitivity for the rural environment and understand the issues of low volume and how providers in rural areas are subject to different rules and regulations than urban.”

NRHA COO Brock Slabach“I’m really happy with how Larry has established the vetting process,” Morgan adds. “He does a great job on the front end of seeing if it’s rural relevant, priced appropriately, and if the business understands the clientele. He also does a great job throughout the year to see if we’ve noticed results and if they provide quality services and products to our members.”

Over the last 20 years, NRHASC has continued to enhance their offerings to include webinars, blogs, and other resources tailored specifically to the needs of rural health care providers. This has given rural leaders like Hassel another place to turn when resource constraints leave them searching for answers, with Melissa Memorial having utilized input from NRHASC vendors to navigate the financial landscape and restructure their emergency department staffing model.

“One thing I really appreciate is that, as NRHASC has grown, we have made sure there’s something from the tech sector, financial sector, workforce, IT, and more,” Morgan says. “We have a complete menu of services and products that are valuable to our members.”

“I would characterize NRHASC as a learning organization,” Slabach adds. “They’ve learned from experience and retooled their offerings and products to better suit the needs of rural providers. That’s what I’ve seen over time as being one of the key hallmarks of Services Corp – they’ve used knowledge they’ve gained to improve and perfect the services they provide.”

Looking forward to the next 20 years, Morgan and Slabach are hopeful that NRHASC’s partnerships and offerings will continue to evolve in response to the growing role of technology and artificial intelligence in health care.

“I hope we can continue to enhance services based on our experiences to better serve the customers we have in this market,” Slabach says. “I don’t think growth for growth’s sake is helpful. We need to do it around needs that our members identify. Growth will happen naturally if you do the right thing at the right time for the right people.”

For rural CEOs like Hassel, having ready access to resources, NRHA members and staff, and vendors he can trust helps make his job just a little easier.

“Many organizations don’t understand the rural environment,” he says. “But I feel like I could sign up with any vendor through NRHA Services Corps and be in good hands because of where I found them.”

Your rural health main street for 20 years

NRHA and NRHASC recognize and value the critical role our member and partner organizations play in shaping the future of rural health care.

When our members choose to engage with an NRHA Partner, they can have confi dence knowing that organization has a track record of success with their colleagues across the country.

Additionally, our Rural Hospital Partnership Program offers partner organizations the ability to directly engage with more than 6,000 active rural health care executives.

NRHA Partners hold a wide range of proven expertise, already equipped to meet the unique needs of the rural health leaders in any community.

Learn about services NRHA Partners offer at NRHASC.com.

Learn more about becoming a Partner at NRHAPartners.com.