On Jan. 31, 2024, a National Institutes of Health-supported study found that patients receiving ventilator life support in the intermediate care units ﾖ a potentially less costly alternative for people not sick enough for the intensive care units (ICUs) but too ill for the general ward ﾖ of rural hospitals had significantly higher death rates than patients in the same type of unit at urban hospitals.

The study also found that patients with respiratory failure in the ICUs at rural and urban hospitals fare similarly. Published in the journal Annals of the American Thoracic Society, this study highlights the need for more careful evaluations of patients with breathing problems who are assigned to intermediate care units.