An American Hospital Association task force is working to confirm the characteristics of vulnerable rural and urban communities and identify strategies and federal policies to help ensure access to care in these areas. Chaired by Robert Henkel, president and CEO of St. Louis-based Ascension Health, the 30-member Task Force on Ensuring Access in Vulnerable Communities, consists of two subcommittees that are examining the issue from the rural and inner-city perspective. Ray Montgomery, president and CEO of Unity Health White County Medical Center in Searcy, Ark., chairs the rural subcommittee, and Benjamin Chu, M.D., executive vice president of Pasadena, Calif.-based Kaiser Foundation Hospitals, chairs the urban subcommittee.
