. >>> according to the american hospital association, because rural hospitals are so small many rely on government assistance. they care for 54 million people with about 9 million of those patients meaning medicare assistance. the struggle for founding means a high turn over and lack of funding. the problem will get worse as the rural populations age. jody schmidt is the president of the rural health organization and joins us. 20% of americans live in rural communities, but 10% of doctors serve those communities. 77% of rural counties have medical professional shortages. it's a problem. why hasn't it got the attention it deserves and been addressed. >> it is certainlial tremendous problem, and we have seen the problems for many years. my entire career we have seen some progress in establishing rural residenceies in expanding access to medicine. a real challenge is the fact we are dependent on medicare and medicaid financing. cuts in reimbursement put financial struggles on the rural hospital making it more difficult to recruit providers and sustain technology and emergency access. >>

hospital. we have the american heart association, kaiser permanente we have the g.w. medical faculty associates. we have women heart here. we have the cardiology associates here. we have suburban hospital here inova fairfax hospital, women's heart and fairfax heart vascular institute. we have our area's best in this room right now. if you have any questions, sometimes my back hurts. sometimes i feel like i'm getting heartburn. my cholesterol numbers are -- i don't know what i need to know if i'm at risk. these are the people that you call and ask so you don't have what happened to me to you. reporting live we'll be right back to the phone bank. 703-236-9220. see in a few moments. >> take advantage of the fact that we have the best health care in the country right here. the "7 on your side" i-team gets results after we find a veteran cemetery filled with mud and holes. a promise from maryland's veteran affairs secretary. you guys can just leave your coats right over here. wow. your bedroom is amazing. oh, thanks. we worked with a designer from havertys. total refresh. o

american heart association to promote heart disease awareness among women. that's why you see many of us wearing red today. today nbc10 visited lehigh valley hospitaln at today's event underwent ground-breaking procedures to not only prolong their lives but provide a better quality of life. all three were in red today, celebrating another milestone in their battles against heart disease. >> how do you feel today compared to three years ago? >> a whole new person. it's amazing. in a matter of four days four days i was up walking around and i couldn't believe it. >> the network's heart and vascular center was renamed after charles crin a local businessman who donated $5 million to support the center's research. >>> february is national heart month. nbc10 talked with a local soccer coach who has quite the survival story. 30-year-old jacqueline mcclone suddenly collapsed on the soccer field. the young girl she was coaching ran over to help. she was revived on the way to the hospital. but once there, her body gave out again. fortunately, the hospital used a special machine that worked in place of her heart. >> i wouldn't be here if he wasn't able to do

american heart association to get students up and moving. >> they have a lot of energy. everybody needs a warm hat on a cold day, of course. nbc10 at the dupont hospital for children in wilmington. young patients got hand-knitted valentine's hats. a local group called the delaware head huggers made about 100 of them. they gave them out to all the young patients in the hospital's cardiac icu. >>> happening this weekend -- cupid's undie run. that's right. hundreds of people will dare to wear very little tomorrow afternoon. they'll leave from xfinity live to make to the streets in just their underwear. it's all to raise money for the children's tumor foundation. we wish them well. gosh, i wish it was going to be warner out there. >> are you planning to be in it? >> i'm with them in spirit. >> it's been a rough season. a lot of sick people out there. we found out the flu shot wasn't so effective after all. >> the government is issuing its outlook for the rest of the flu season. >>> and she wasn't so much the blushing bride as she was the sleepy bride. what woke this local woman from her sleep for a day she'll never forget. >>> and i'm tracking valentine's

hospital in orlando. can you give us an update on that also? >> yes maam. i was in orlando and i spoke to the american nurses association and i was there to tell them about how exciting it would be to work in the va today and just like you and the chairman went with me to a the medical schools in florida to recruit we were recruiting. we picked up quite a few people who were registered in coming to work for the va. the va is the largest employer of nurses in the country and it's important our nurses are very important to us and they do a great job so that is why i was there. separately i did visit the orlando hospital atlanta medical center. there are now patients being seen. we are in the process of moving in. we expect to have a commemoration ceremony of sorts for memorial day but between now and then there will be new clinics being set up every single week there. it's a fantastic facility and i think the citizens of orlando and the area of florida will really enjoy going there. >> thank you. dr. clancy is there a discussion on this committee about you know we have doctors on this committee and they talk about this re

hospital in orlando. can you give us an update on that also? >> yes maam. i was in orlando and i spoke to the american nurses association and i was there to tell them about how exciting it would be to work in the va today and just like you and the chairman went with me to a the medical schools in florida to recruit, we were recruiting. we picked up quite a few people who were registered in coming to work for the va. the va is the largest employer of nurses in the country and it's important our nurses are very important to us and they do a great job so that is why i was there. separately i did visit the orlando hospital atlanta medical center. there are now patients being seen. we are in the process of moving in. we expect to have a commemoration ceremony of sorts for memorial day but between now and then there will be new clinics being set up every single week there. it's a fantastic facility and i think the citizens of orlando and the area of florida will really enjoy going there. >> thank you. dr. clancy is there a discussion on this committee about you know we have doctors on this committee and they talk about this r

hospitals . it is also good for every american in the country that has insurance because it will have an impact on the premium. there are substantial benefits associate with the affordable care act. i recognize it is awkward for some republicans who voted against the law that has resulted in such significant benefit the country, it is probably difficult for them to explain. i imagine that they are looking for an opportunity to wiggle out of that. that will become more and more difficult as time was on. >> if i could read one sentence from the president's remarks today, taking them out of context. he said, making a nation that he loves more perfect. was that written in after in response to rudy giuliani go >> it was not. as i mentioned, the president mention something very similar at the state of the union. the president often mentions his love for this country. lori. nice to see you. >> what is the reaction demonstrations of the latest seven and venezuela? president nicolas maduro iqs the u.s. government of trying to ever though his government last wednesday. >> these allegations that we've seen from the majuro government -- from the maduro governmen

american pediatrics association. weeks -- i spent a lot of time working with the advisory committee on immunization practices. i was the first nurse in 2004 to go to the cdc from children's hospitals a nurse practitioner and look at things like what is the data on the schedule. what do we know about how many vaccines are safe to give at one time. i am very confident our schedule is well thought out. a lot of it is based on human immunology. why do we not give measles mumps rubella right now at two months? why do we not give it to every baby? the reason is that parents -- hey mom's antibodies will take over. if we get a vaccine, the antibodies would want it. the immune system says we already have this antibody and we would not -- we do not need any more. same for chickenpox. we have to wait until maternal antibodies filter away and now it is the baby's own immune system. on the other hand, you have tightness. you can start the at two months. appetizers -- hepatitis b you can set the at birth. the schedule is important for people to follow as laid out. it is well researched. it is raised on how our immune system response. it is based on how vaccines are given together. parents are

hospital in orlando. can you give us an update on that also? >> yes ma'am. i was in orlando. i spoke to the american nurses associationas there to tell them about how exciting it would be to work in va today. and just like you and the chairman went with me to the medical schools in florida to recruit. we were recruiting. we picked up quite a few people who were interested in coming to work for va. the va is the largest employer of nurses in the country, and it's important our nurses are very important to do a great job. that's what i was there. separately i did visit the orlando hospital, atlanta medical center. the art of patience being seen. we're in the process of moving in. we expect to have a commemoration ceremony of sorts by memorial day, but between now and then it will be new clinics being set up every single week. it's a fantastic facility and i think the citizens of orlando and the area florida will really enjoy going there. >> thank you. dr. clancy, there's a lot of discussion on this committee about, we have doctors on this committee and the talk about this responsibility. it's a little different working