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Article History

Received: 19 July 2023

Accepted: 20 June 2025

First Online: 27 July 2025

Declarations

:

: This study received Institutional Review Board approval by the Georgia Southern University Institutional Review Board. All methods were performed in accordance with Declaration of Helsinki guidelines. Informed consent was received from all study participants prior to interview.

: Not applicable.

: The focus of the Center for Public Health Practice and Research (Georgia Southern University) includes rural health systems research, and the center currently has ongoing funded projects relating to rural hospitals and health systems, including projects funded by the Georgia Department of Community Health and the Georgia Hospital Association. The Center also provides technical assistance to rural hospitals on community health needs assessments and strategic and health system planning. All authors contribute to these projects. This study represents secondary data analysis of previously collected data as part of community health needs assessments within 6 rural hospital communities. The original data were collected under contractual agreements with hospitals in the assessed communities to conduct their respective community health needs assessments. Hospitals from communities included in this study were not involved in the present study’s conceptualization, analysis, or interpretation. Hospitals were not involved in the original data collection other than disseminating the survey link. The contents of this manuscript are those of the authors only and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement by, any rural hospital.