Huntsville Memorial Hospital is asking the state to reclassify Walker County as rural instead of urban, a change hospital leaders told the Walker County Hospital District board on Thursday, Sept. 25, would open health care funding lines that Walker County providers cannot draw on today.
Texas classifies a county as rural when its 2020 census population is below 68,750. Walker County was counted at 76,400. About 15,000 of those residents were incarcerated people whose care is coordinated by the University of Texas Medical Branch. Excluding that population would put Walker County at roughly 61,400 residents, below the rural threshold.
Whether the state agrees to reclassify the county will shape which state and federal rural health programs the hospital and area clinics can pursue. The hospital board also adopted an $11.02 million budget and a lower district tax rate at the same Sept. 25 meeting.
Sources: Huntsville Item, Walker County Hospital District meeting information.