Today, the National Rural Health Association is participating in a White House Rural Council Forum held in State College, Pennsylvania. The meeting’s focus is on both recent results in rural communities, and also a look forward for rural America.
The White House Rural Council was established by executive order on June 9th, 2011, to both identify and also to facilitate economic growth and recovery in rural America. The cornerstone of both of those objectives is quality rural health care delivery. Local and accessible health care is vital to the patients of rural communities and the vibrancy of the local economy, often representing as much as 20% of the rural economy.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, Chair of the White House Rural Council has long argued that a healthy workforce is essential to economic development, and has advanced several important health-specific policy initiatives since its establishment, including efforts to expand health information technology, the development of a rural health IT workforce, and expansion of the National Health Service Corps to Critical Access Hospitals. Additionally, the Council has focused an important light on the rural opiate epidemic and is working hard to combat this crisis.
However, NRHA remains disappointed that certain rural issues have been overlooked by the Council. Most notably - - the rural hospital closure crisis and the declining life expectancy of rural Americans. Addressing these two key challenges and keeping the topic of healthcare on the front burner will ensure that rural America as a whole will continue to see improvements in the economic viability of rural America. NRHA looks forward to working with the White House Rural Council in the future to improve access to health care for all rural Americans.