Rural is the New Black

We can thank the dedication of all the rural advocates for what seems to be HRSA’s recent acknowledgement of the importance and uniqueness of rural health care. More then ever I am seeing rurally focused assessments, reviews, promising practice data, and the ever important funding opportunity announcements (FOA).

Last week, the latest rural focused FOA was released to fund the planning and development of a rural residency program. HRSA-19-088 Rural Residency Planning and Development Program will develop new rural residency programs or Rural Training Tracks (RTT) in family medicine, internal medicine, and psychiatry, to support expansion of the physician workforce in rural areas. The new rural residency programs or RTTs are intended to be sustainable through separate public or private funding beyond the RRPD grant period of performance.

I’d also like to remind you of the Rural Health Information Hub, formerly the Rural Assistance Center. The website is funded by the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy to be a national clearinghouse on rural health issues and support your work of improving health for rural residents—through the provision of current and reliable resources and tools to help you learn about rural health needs and work to address them.

May you find your rural or urban groove today.

Eileen