News from rural America.

An Illinois university is trying to fill gaps in the nationwide pharmacy shortage, Alabama plans to address its high infant mortality rate using robots in maternal care and neighbors helping neighbors is behind a successful New England weatherization program.

TRANSCRIPT

For the Daily Yonder and Public News Service, this is the news from rural America.

Rural communities face a shortage of pharmacies, but an Illinois college is working to fill the gaps.

More than 70 percent of the state's counties are pharmacy deserts, which is similar to neighboring Indiana and states like Alaska and New Mexico.

Clinical pharmacy professor Heidi Olson at the University of Illinois Chicago says they're using specialized training for their students.

If you didn't grow up in a rural area, it's important to be aware that the culture is slightly different and to be culturally humble and culturally competent to work in an area like that.

The university's assistant director for rural pharmacy initiatives is Kenesha Hicks.

She says they're also reaching out to high school and college students to boost awareness of the opportunities.

They get to know pharmacy as a career.

They get to know current pharmacists working in their rural areas, and then they can know the pathway of getting into pharmacy school as well.

Alabama's plan to use robots in rural maternity care is sparking debate among providers.

Julia Tilton reports.

To address rural healthcare gaps and high infant mortality, Alabama wants to use part of its $200 million from the federal Rural Health Transformation Program for robotic ultrasounds.

KFF Health News reporter Sarah Jane Tribble says doctors stress that it can supplement, but not replace well-trained providers.

Doctors, if you talk to them, they say people need to be there and make sure that the mothers are safe and get the proper preventive care that's needed.

Trubel says over the last 40 years, the share of rural counties with hospital-based obstetric care has fallen by two-thirds.

Alabama, the South, those states have long struggled with higher infant mortality rates than the rest of the country.

And part of that is the loss of obstetric care.

While the fund is encouraging states try technological solutions, Alabama is the only state with plans to use ultrasound robots.

I'm Julia Tilton.

Maine consistently ranks in the coldest states.

So to help with that and summer's heat, neighbors there help build insulated window inserts through the non-profit Window Dressers.

Program manager Donald DeVoil says in 2010, a member of Rockland's Universalist congregation heard about the window inserts at a Sustainable Living Conference and set out to retrofit two dozen of the church's windows.

He says they've now grown to have volunteers in Vermont and New Hampshire.

The model we use is very intentional in its desire to strengthen communities and build those community ties.

DeVoil says they're always trying to reach those who are struggling.

A weatherization-based organization is interested in helping people save money on their eating bills, save energy use, and live more comfortably in their home in winter.

By 2024, they'd built and installed nearly 80,000 inserts with more than 50 projects planned this year.

For the Daily Yonder and Public News Service, I'm Roz Brown.

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