Tennessee (November 17, 2020) – Tennessee Rural Health Association (RHA) will join the National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health (NOSORH) and other rural stakeholders in celebrating National Rural Health Day on Thursday, November 19, 2020.
NOSORH founded National Rural Health Day as a way to showcase rural America; increase awareness of rural health-related challenges; and promote the efforts of NOSORH, State Offices of Rural Health and others in addressing those challenges. National Rural Health Day is an annual day of recognition which occurs on the third Thursday of November.
Governor Lee has issued a proclamation declaring Thursday the 19th as Rural Health Day in Tennessee. To mark the occasion, Rural Health Association of Tennessee is hosting a series of webinars starting with a message from Governor Lee during the 10am plenary session. The keynote for the plenary will be Johnny Stephenson, Director, Office of Strategic Analysis & Communications, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center. Stephenson will discuss the challenges faced by NASA, how they relate to the rural health care space, and lessons learned through leading through crisis.
The rest of the day will feature Tennessee Tech, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and Rural Health Research Center who will talk about the impact of COVID on rural Tennessee and how rural strengths may be leveraged to overcome the challenges.
An estimated 1.5 million people Tennesseans live in a rural community. “Tennessee is full of rural communities that are wonderful places to live, work, worship, and educate kids,” says Rural Health Association of Tennessee’s Executive Director, Jacy Warrell. “We’re working hard to make certain these communities have necessary access to health care so they can maintain their employers and jobs.”
COVID19 has unveiled many of the serious access to care issues in rural Tennessee. “The impact COVID-19 is having in rural communities at this very moment, not just on health of people, but the strain on our entire state’s healthcare system serves as a reminder that rural health is something everyone should be concerned about,” Warrell says. “We need policies that address the disproportionate funding levels that make it hard for our hospitals and clinics to remain open and serve their community.”
Additional information about National Rural Health Day can be found at PowerofRural.org. Rural Health Day events are free and open to the public. For more information visit www.rhat.org/events.