Rural health care providers and administrators from across Illinois are coming to Champaign this week for the annual conference of the Illinois Rural Health Association. They'll receive hands-on training to help them care for patients in underserved areas.

Twin Rivers is the fourth rural hospital to shutter in Missouri in the past four years. The surprise closure has left the 31,000 residents of Dunklin County—the second poorest in the state—scrambling to find medical care while local physicians rush to provide services and elected officials ponder ways to replace the loss of one of the county’s largest employers.