Maybe there should be a national requirement, overseen by HHS?, of placing Emergency Room facilities based on time to access for the population of the area across the US.

Not necessarily a full hospital, but at least an ER

Article refers to Jamestown, Tennessee as an example

"I think she might be alive today if she had got to this ER right here behind me," Cooper said, referring to the shuttered Jamestown facility.

Already struggling, the nation's rural hospitals face another challenge: for-profit owners