Bringing Health Care Back to a Rural Pennsylvania Community

Snow Shoe Township is a small, rural community of around 1,700 people in central Pennsylvania that lies approximately 30 miles north of State College. A former coal mining town, Snow Shoe has seen an economic decline over the years.

Then, in the span of one year starting in 2020, Snow Shoe lost its only grocery store, hardware store, bank, pharmacy and federally qualified health center. The only businesses left in town were a dollar store, pizza shop, post office, laundromat, and an outdoor and sporting goods store.

With the closure of the town’s health care facility and pharmacy, many of Snow Shoe’s aging residents, and others with health needs, were no longer able to access health care.

This led clinicians from the Penn State College of Medicine (PSCOM) to initiate conversations with local, state, federal, University and health system leaders to see what they could do to help area residents access basic health care needs. Through these conversations, they learned that the primary barriers to receiving health care were transportation and time constraints.

Without the ability to access basic health care services, clinicians from PSCOM and faculty members across academic colleges at Penn State collaborated to support the health and wellness of the residents in Snow Shoe and the surrounding community.