Today on Almost Paradise in North Idaho, we sit down with Bryce Cordel, Chief Nursing Officer for our local hospital, to discuss the growing challenges facing small rural hospitals across America—and what those challenges mean right here in Boundary County.

Most of us do not spend much time thinking about hospitals until the day we suddenly need one. Whether it is an illness, injury, emergency, or the critical first moments before transfer to a larger medical facility, access to local healthcare can mean the difference between life and death.

Bryce shares both the struggles and the strengths of rural healthcare: staffing shortages, financial pressures, emergency preparedness, and the ongoing effort to provide quality care close to home. But this conversation is about more than budgets and buildings. It is about community, res ...