mr. stover? >> mr. airman and members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today. my name is george stover, and i serve as the chief executive officer of hospital district number one of rice county in lyons county. lyons has a population of 3800. our community hospital, which first opened in 1959 is a 25-bed critical access hospital that employees approximately 150 individuals. rural community hospitals have a long and distinguished commitment of providing care for all who seek it, 24/7, 365. more than 36% of all kansans live in rural areas, and depend on a local hospital serving their community. rural hospitals face a unique set of challenges because of the remote geographic location, small size, scarce workforce, physician shortages, higher percentage of medicare and medicaid patients, and a constrained financial resources that limited access to capital. these challenges alone would make it difficult for many rural hospitals to survive. however, one disturbing challenge that

mr. stover? >> the wage index relative to critical reimbursement is not as significant as a pps setting. however, the idea that physicians and specially trained nurses and nobody flebomotists and technicians can be recruited to rural areas for less than when they would earn in the urban areas is simply not true. we compete on a national level for these very, very scarce resources. >> same observation, mr. stover. >> yes, mr. chairman, i would agree with my colleague, ms. peterson. >> my last question would be on telemedicine, are you getting reimbursed -- do you have behavioral health also? >> we do, yes. >> are you being reimbursed for behavioral health in the same way for other health items? >> we are. >> your goal is to recapture all costs? >> correct. and to integrate behavioral health into medical clinics as well. >> do you have any studies that would indicate how much better people do with other health problems if you're dealing with their behavial health problems at the same time? >> well,