Digital imaging equipment would help rural hospitals

In 2021, I fell off a golf cart and suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI) in Apalachicola. I was taken to George E. Weems Memorial Hospital — the local critical access hospital. After an initial scan, they could tell there was a serious problem and that I had a brain bleed. But their imaging technology wasn’t advanced enough to fully evaluate the extent of my injuries. 

They acted decisively, putting me in an ambulance for the over two-hour transfer to Tallahassee Memorial Hospital. My now-husband and immediate family were told I likely would not survive the ride. 

The care team at Weems made the best possible decisions under very real constraints — and I’m here today because of their judgment and urgency. However, this experience also made one thing painfully clear: even the most dedicated clinicians can’t save lives without the right tools.

My story isn’t an anomaly; it’s a warning. Thousands of Floridians in rural communities face similar emergencies without access to basic diagnostic tools. Across the Panhandle, small hospitals are being asked to handle trauma with their hands tied.

Advanced imaging equipment like CT and MRI machines isn’t optional in emergency medicine — it’s essential. Without it, doctors can’t diagnose internal bleeding, strokes, or brain injuries in time. Over 40% of rural hospitals nationwide lack these tools, and those in Florida are no exception.

The result? Patients are transferred to larger hospitals — often by helicopter — wasting critical time. CDC reports on TBIs show that survival and recovery depend on the “golden hour,” the first 60 minutes after injury. In rural Florida, that hour is often spent on the road.

This isn’t a funding problem — it’s a priority problem.

Florida received over $100 million in rural health grants in 2022, but most of it went to staffing and telemedicine, not equipment. And while Florida’s rural hospital grants exist, they’re limited and don’t require diagnostic upgrades. Some of the most underserved counties received nothing.

There are solutions. States like Texas and Georgia use mobile diagnostic units — CT scanners on wheels that rotate between hospitals. They’ve cut costs and saved lives. National Institute of Health research shows that mobile imaging is cost-effective and essential for underserved areas. One unit costs about $350,000 — the price of 18 air transfers. After that, it pays for itself.

Florida must act now to close the rural diagnostic gap. Possible solutions include requiring all rural hospitals to maintain CT and ultrasound access through a diagnostic parity law. The state should also invest in mobile imaging units that rotate between underserved areas and earmark federal rural health funds specifically for diagnostic equipment rather than just staffing.

Rural lives matter. The value of care shouldn’t be determined by your ZIP code. In Miami, patients get scanned in minutes. In Franklin County, it may take hours — if they make it.

We know what works. Now we need the will to do it.

Emily Green-Conrad is a health policy professional in Washington, DC. She is a proud Tallahassee native and a master of public health candidate at Yale University.