ST. LOUIS – Rural hospitals have been prepared for a virus that may not reach them as they struggle financially. Mike Gruenberg, director of disaster preparedness at Salem Memorial Hospital, a 25-bed, critical-access care facility, said getting ready for coronavirus patents meant making major changes. “We don’t usually admit patients on ventilators. So, usually, … we would send (those patients) to the urban facilities,” he said. “We have had to change our way of dealing with that. We have some extra ventilators in-house. We are able to keep these patients.” The hospital, in a town of about 5,000 about 125 miles southwest of St. Louis, set up special rooms to treat COVID-19 patients, bought more protective equipment like gowns and masks, and canceled all elective and non-emergency procedures to avoid cross-contamination of coronavirus to other patients. The hospital tested more than 50 patients, and there are no positive cases in the county, so far. “But we have to be ready. And we are…