Like other rural facilities across the county, Ty Cobb Healthcare System (Royston, Ga.) felt the pressures of providing rural healthcare in a modern age: rising costs, funding shortages, increasing competition, and a shrinking medical staff population. According to the National Rural Health Association, only about 10 percent of physicians practice in rural America despite the fact that nearly one-fourth of the population lives in these areas. Faced with these challenges, many rural healthcare facilities decide to close their doors or consider affiliating themselves with a larger system. Click here to read the full article by Anne DiNardo.