According to the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Nebraska has twenty-three counties in which no primary care providers (PCPs) currently practice there (2011) . This means that if a person lives near the center of that county, it may take up to an hour and a half to find a doctor who practices primary care. Why is this important for public health? This is important because in rural areas where health services may cover districts several hundred kilometers wide, the greatest influence and source of health information in a patient's life is often their healthcare provider. primary care. This is the person who delivered them, and this is the doctor who will take care of them until they retire. The relationship between the provider and the patient cannot be ignored, because it is this which allows the doctor to have a certain authority in the eyes of the patient. However, with the aging medical population and ever-increasing needs for medical care, this relationship is under threat. Patients are forced to travel greater distances to see their primary care provider, and sometimes even longer to see specialists. Although, to some extent, access to health care will always be more limited in rural areas, there are ways to improve access to care afforded to rural residents. This article will compare the accessibility and utilization of primary health care services in rural Nebraska. Since there is no way to cover all the necessary information, this article will focus on critical access hospitals (CAHs) and their respective information. Accessibility to health care by rural Nebraska residents has been continually scrutinized by public health officials for decades. Rightfully so, because although Nebraska has greatly improved...... middle of paper ...... essMcCook Community Hospital. (2013). Specialized medical center. Retrieved November 14, 2013 from http://chmccook.org/hospital-services/clinics-specialists/visiting-specialistsMueller PhD, K., Nayar MD. PhD, P., Shaw-Sutherland MPA, K., Nguyen MSPH, A., Xu MS, L., Vanosdel MA, N. and Hummel MPA, D. (2009). “A CRITICAL MATCH” Nebraska Health Workforce Planning Project. (). Omaha, NE: Nebraska Center for Rural Research. Schaefer MD, J., Miller DDS, J., Zagozda, R., Hartig, P., Funk, M., Nelson, N., & Allahiq, M. (2008) . 2010 rural health goals and objectives for Nebraska. (Progress report). Nebraska: Department of Health and Human Services. United States Department of Health and Human Services. (2013). What are critical access hospitals (CAH)? Accessed November 4, 2013, from http://www.hrsa.gov/healthit/toolbox/RuralHealthITtoolbox/Introduction/critical.html