November 21st is National Rural Health Day

Fahe believes that improving positive health outcomes in Appalachia lands within our mission to eliminate persistent poverty.  Access to proper healthcare, preventative services, and quality housing improves the quality of life for people in our region. And healthier households can contribute to the health of their communities. 

National Rural Health Day (NRHD) was created in 2010 by the National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health (NOSORH) to celebrate and acknowledge the ongoing efforts, contributions, and collaborations in rural communities to address the unique challenges in accessing and delivering healthcare services. 

Rural health is of great concern for us at Fahe.  In Appalachia, we have many communities that have limited access to healthcare facilities, drug and alcohol recovery services, and quality housing.  Central Appalachia ranks among the highest in the country for preventable diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, and lung cancer. The region has also been hit hard by the opioid epidemic in recent years.  We want to celebrate our Members and partners who are making a difference in the health of people in Central Appalachia.  Our 50+ Members across six states make a huge impact on thousands of lives annually with housing and the construction of community facilities such as health clinics and homeless shelters.

We also partner with groups such as Addiction Recovery Care, DV8, the State of Kentucky, and the Fletcher Group to provide addiction recovery services in rural places, which are often underserved.  We have funded four recovery centers, resulting in 500 beds and millions in savings for the State of Kentucky.  In 2019 we launched two unique programs, Kentucky Access to Recovery Program and the Transformational Employment Program.

We are grateful to NeighborWorks America and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for funding to support our healthcare efforts and are honored to work alongside them in creating a culture of health across the nation. 

National Rural Health Day Events

HRSA will be live webcasting the celebration today at: http://services.choruscall.com/links/hrsa191121.  The agenda includes a keynote by the HHS Deputy Secretary, Eric Hargan, a roundtable discussion entitled “Why is Rural Health Important?”, a presentation by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), and much more.

At 1 pm ET, the Rural Health Information Hub (RHIhub) will host an Access to Funding for Rural Health Twitter Chat.  RHIhub can be found on Twitter with the handle @ruralhealthinfo.  Follow and use the hashtags #RuralHealthChat and #PowerofRural to tweet with experts from around the country. 

We are excited by the recent national interest in all things rural in the past few years.  We hope the increased conversation and events such as National Rural Health Day lead to the level of funding and investment required to advance health equity in rural places.