In a new commentary published by The Daily Yonder, Advocates for Community Health CEO Amanda Pears Kelly shines a spotlight on the critical challenges facing rural healthcare, and the homegrown solutions driving real results.

The piece features the inspiring work of Mountain Comprehensive Health Corporation (MCHC), serving communities in southeastern Kentucky and western Virginia. Through their innovative Reach Achieve Inspire, Support, Employ (RAISE) program, which grew out of a collaboration with UnitedHealthcare Community & State and ACH, MCHC has upskilled nearly 200 local employees, turning receptionists into nurses and medical assistants into nurse practitioners. By investing in people who already know and care for their communities, RAISE offers a powerful, scalable model to overcome the rural healthcare workforce shortage.

As policymakers navigate the shifting Medicaid landscape and the implementation of the Rural Health Transformation Program, Pears Kelly argues that community health centers are not just temporary stopgaps, but vital pieces of our nation’s economic and medical infrastructure.

“We don’t have a shortage of dedicated people who want to serve their communities,” says MCHC CEO Mike Caudill. “We have a shortage of opportunity.”

Read the full commentary to learn why sustaining local innovation is the key to preserving both health and economic stability in rural America.