This Aug. 25, 2018, photo shows beds and other equipment being assembled in an ICU room in the Lee County Medical Center in Pennington Gap, Va. (AP Photo/Earl Neikirk)

Last week, the Joint Commission on Health Care released its sobering findings on the financial struggles of rural hospitals. 

If you’re wonky enough, you can dive into the analysis here. If you’re a little less wonky, you can find the cliff notes version here. 

The report finds that eight rural hospitals are “at risk of closure” and five others are at “immediate risk of closure.” 

That’s just the tip of the iceberg, though. The report goes into detail about the financial distress rural hospitals are facing, and lawmakers noted the likelihood that even more rural hospitals are also struggling but not quite enough to be included in the report.

Then there’s impending impacts of the spending cuts and changes to Medicaid and Medicare included in President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act. State Del. Rodney Willett (D-Henrico) said the risks posed by Trump’s legislation will challenge all hospitals regardless of their current financial health. 

After reaching out to some sources, I was able to connect with two women in Pulaski County, which sits west of Blacksburg, to hear about what it’s like to access healthcare there.

• Watch US Sen. Tim Kaine talk about how he expects Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill to impact Virginians and his concerns about the changes to Medicaid’s work requirements.  

• The law firm Williams Mullen published a rundown of Virginia’s new pay transparency law going into effect on July 1. 

• Graham Moomaw at The Richmonder reports on Richmond Mayor Danny Avula’s waffling on collective bargaining for public employees.   

Virginia Senate President pro tempore Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, listens to debate on the Senate floor, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026, in Richmond, Va. (AP Photo/Ryan M. Kelly)

Yesterday, the Richmond Times-Dispatch published an op-ed penned by two union leaders—Don Slaiman with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 26 and Jason Ascher with the Mid-Atlantic Pipe Trades Association—along with two business leaders in defense of Virginia’s tax break for data centers. 

The fate of that tax break remains uncertain as Spanberger and General Assembly leaders have yet to strike an agreement on the state budget.

State Sen. Louise Lucas (D-Portsmouth) has kept up her populist argument that Virginia should get rid of the tax break. Meanwhile, Speaker of the House of Delegates Don Scott has sided with Spanberger’s opposition to nixing the tax break early.

Brandon Jarvis at Virginia Scope reported that it’s possible a so-called skinny budget gets passed by the July 1 deadline to fund core services if a full agreement on the state’s finances can’t be reached. 

That seems to make it even less likely that measures in support of collective bargaining get included in the state budget. 

On Friday, I DM’d Lucas on X to ask if collective bargaining was still part of the state budget talks, or if it seemed like less of a possibility.

Her response: “Less of a possibility!”

Apple TV/YouTube

You are receiving this email because you opted in via our website.

Our mailing address is:
Dogwood / COURIER Newsroom
3229 Greenpoint Ave., PMB 532
Long Island City, New York 11101

Want to change how you receive these emails?

You can update your preferences or   from this list.