EPHC Stronger Together Podcast

Jimmie Bailey, Zac D'Argonne, Mitch Laird

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Medicine
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Rural hospitals are fighting for survival, and the people leading that fight have stories worth hearing. The EPHC Stronger Together Podcast brings you straight talk from the front lines of rural healthcare: hospital CEOs, industry experts, and policymakers tackling the real challenges facing rural hospitals in Colorado and across America. Hosted by the leadership of the Eastern Plains Healthcare Consortium, a nonprofit collaborative of rural and Critical Access Hospitals located in eastern and southern Colorado, each episode digs into the issues that keep rural healthcare leaders up at night: reimbursement and revenue cycle, workforce shortages, patient transfers, healthcare policy, and the strategies keeping small hospitals alive. Whether you run a rural hospital, work in healthcare, shape health policy, or simply care about the future of rural communities, you'll find honest conversations and practical insights here. Because when rural healthcare works together, we're stronger together. New episodes monthly.

Aug 20

Why Rural Hospitals Are Stronger Together

Rural hospitals in this country are being asked to survive on shrinking margins, thinning workforces, and policy written by people who have never set foot in the communities they are deciding for. The Eastern Plains Healthcare Consortium exists because the hospitals of eastern Colorado concluded that competing with one another was a losing strategy. In this first episode, EPHC President and CEO Zac D'Argonne and Vice President of Growth and Impact Jimmie Bailey III introduce the show and explain what it is for. They talk through why 2026 has been the hardest year either one has seen in rural health, what the Rural Health Transformation Program is actually delivering compared to what hospitals were promised, and how projected Medicaid reductions will land on facilities that have no cushion to absorb them. They also make the case that a rural hospital is rarely just a source of care. It is frequently the largest employer in its county, and when it closes, the town tends to follow within a decade. Stronger Together is built for hospital leaders, board members, clinicians, policy staff, and anyone who wants to understand rural health from the inside rather than from a conference room in a metro area. Coming episodes will feature member hospital CEOs, regional and national best practice leaders, and voices from well outside Colorado. If something is working at your hospital and other people ought to hear about it, write to us at podcast@easternplainshealth.org. We are looking for stories. Watch on YouTube and Spotify, or listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

1 Episode

Rural hospitals are fighting for survival, and the people leading that fight have stories worth hearing. The EPHC Stronger Together Podcast brings you straight talk from the front lines of rural healthcare: hospital CEOs, industry experts, and policymakers tackling the real challenges facing rural hospitals in Colorado and across America. Hosted by the leadership of the Eastern Plains Healthcare Consortium, a nonprofit collaborative of rural and Critical Access Hospitals located in eastern and southern Colorado, each episode digs into the issues that keep rural healthcare leaders up at night: reimbursement and revenue cycle, workforce shortages, patient transfers, healthcare policy, and the strategies keeping small hospitals alive. Whether you run a rural hospital, work in healthcare, shape health policy, or simply care about the future of rural communities, you'll find honest conversations and practical insights here. Because when rural healthcare works together, we're stronger together. New episodes monthly.

Creator

Jimmie Bailey, Zac D'Argonne, Mitch Laird
Years Active

2026
Episodes

1
Rating

Clean
Show Website

EPHC Stronger Together Podcast

EPHC Stronger Together Podcast

Episodes

Why Rural Hospitals Are Stronger Together

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