OFFICE OF GOV.

TOPEKA – Governor Sam Brownback signed a proclamation declaring November 16 as National Rural Health Day in the state of Kansas. Each year the National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health and its partners set aside the third Thursday of November to celebrate National Rural Health Day (NRHD). NRHD is an opportunity to “Celebrate the Power of Rural.”

More than 900,000 people call rural Kansas home and these small towns, farming communities and frontier areas are places where neighbors know each other, listen to each other, respect each other and work together to benefit the greater good. Along with the Governor, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) wants to bring awareness to the successes and challenges surrounding health care in rural communities across the state.

In honor of Kansas’ rural health care providers and their innovative approach to meeting their patients’ needs, KDHE’s Office of Rural Health has compiled a list of stories and other Kansas-specific material celebrating the “Power of Rural.”

Over $7 million in state general funds were awarded to thirty-nine clinics across the state through the Community-based Primary Care Clinic Program, assisting clinics in improving access to quality health care with an emphasis on community-based services and reducing health disparities for underserved populations.

Through a grant award, Cheyenne County Clinic in St. Francis recently implemented a mobile integrated health care service, working with high risk patients (patients at risk for complication or admission) to help them stay safely in their homes and to reduce the number of avoidable emergency room and hospital visits.

Neighbor to Neighbor, a day center in Concordia offers classes, services, and a place for women in the community. The center provides a place for women to interact with each other, learn skills such as chair yoga or pain management, and meet basic needs such as laundry. An average of 24 women and children visit the center each day.

On Thursday, November 16, 2017, State Offices of Rural Health are encouraged to invite the rural hospitals and health clinics in their states to host a Walk with a Doc event for their communities. Walk with a Doc is a fun and easy way to engage communities in better health.
We applaud and appreciate the great work of our rural health care providers and their staff, not just on National Rural Health Day, but every day.

For more information on National Rural Health Day and ways to celebrate it, go to www.kdheks.gov/olrh/ruralhealthday.htm.