CalMatters: California’s crisis in rural health care is also a chance for transparency

By Julie Gill Shuffield, Patients Come First California’s Executive Director

California’s rural hospitals are facing multiple, steep challenges providing patients with access to care.  Glenn Medical Center in Willows, located 75 miles north of Sacramento, is at the center of this access crisis.

Though it shuttered its doors in October 2025, Glenn Medical has since restored its status as a “critical access” facility through congressional action. That is only the beginning of the discussion on how to keep this struggling, rural hospital’s doors open. Undoing the closure is complicated and will involve short-term funding.

As decision-makers grapple with the challenge, it is important to look at what programs are working and what requires greater oversight and transparency. 

One key place to look is the federal 340B program. 

Read the full op-ed in CalMatters here.