HOMERVILLE, GA – The Kaiser Foundation regularly travels the nation to stay current with healthcare issues and trends in all regions of the country. These visits by the Kaiser Medical Foundation Program invite national and regional journalists such as USA Today to attend the regional visits. The last such regional visit to Georgia was in 2014.

This year, a group of nearly twenty journalists visited Atlanta this week to meet with hospitals, government officials, university researchers, and more to discuss health care issues, with a particular focus on rural health care.  Clinch Memorial Hospital CEO Angela Ammons joined Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, Miller County Hospital CEO Robin Rau and HomeTown Health CEO Jimmy Lewis in presenting to Kaiser Foundation Media Fellowship Program journalists.

The participants learned that while there are still many challenges, Georgia has served as an incubator for creative and progressive rural and urban health care initiatives.

Clinch Memorial Hospital CEO Angela Ammons talked about the process of turning a regional hospital around, and how she has benefited from working with local industry, and with Miller County Hospital and their CEO, Robin Rau.  In particular, she discussed the role of the Georgia

Rural Hospital Stabilization Grant, and the important impact of rural hospitals on their local economies and communities.