Today is National Rural Health Day, and I want to take the opportunity to highlight some of the great efforts underway to improve rural health across America. From my time as Deputy Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Health, I know firsthand the importance of addressing issues that affect our rural communities and families.

The Federal Office of Rural Health Policy is our primary office for supporting rural health grant programs. Since 2011, it has served 750,000 people per year with over 200 grantees.

HRSA has invested $297 million to fight the opioid crisis across 1,420 rural counties since 2018, including a $115 million investment in fiscal year 2020.

For the last 30 years, HRSA has been a leader in the field of telehealth. As the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has become clear, HRSA has drawn upon our expertise and redoubled our efforts to provide care through telehealth technology. HRSA awarded $15 million to 159 organizations across five of our health workforce programs to increase telehealth capabilities.

On this National Rural Health Day, and with Thanksgiving around the corner, I am thankful for our grantees - and more broadly everyone with whom HRSA partners to improve public health in America, including in our rural communities - for the tremendous work you are doing amid a pandemic unprecedented in our lifetimes.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving. Stay safe and be well.

Tom Engels

Please join us TODAY for the November "HAB You Heard" Webinar, a monthly update from the HRSA HIV/AIDS Bureau (HAB). The webinar will be held today, November 19, from 3:30 - 4:30 p.m. ET. As with all HAB You Heard Webinars, this event is open to all Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program recipients, subrecipients, stakeholders and federal employees.

Join the webinar.

The National Health Service Corps’ Students to Service Loan Repayment Program application cycle is extended through December 3 at 7:30 p.m. ET. The program awards up to $120,000 in loan repayment to medical, dental and nursing students in the final year of health professional school. Interested clinicians should check their eligibility and apply.

MCHB seeks public comments as we develop a new strategic plan. The plan will guide MCHB's efforts to advance the health and well-being of America’s mothers, children and families. We seek your ideas, experience, and feedback in framing the strategic plan so that MCHB responds effectively to the future needs of maternal and child health populations.

Please review our request for information and email your comments to MCHStrategy.hrsa@hrsa.gov by Friday, December 18 at 11:59 p.m. ET.

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NAM) recently published, “Key Policy Challenges and Opportunities to Improve Care for People with Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders: Proceedings of a Workshop.” This HRSA-supported report is a product of NAM’s Forum on Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders and describes the presentations and discussions held in October 2019 during the inaugural workshop.

Read the report.  

Rural communities face unique health care challenges in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. The Federal Healthcare Resilience Working Group has developed a collection of essential resources, tools, and trainings that can help health care workers and organizations – including EMS or 9-1-1, inpatient or hospital care, ambulatory care, and long-term care – prepare for and respond to COVID-19. New and updated resources are added regularly like the PPE Preservation Planning Guide and Telemedicine Hack training.

Access the one-stop shop for rural health care.

Mark your calendar for “HRSA’s World AIDS Day 2020 Virtual Commemorative Event” on December 1 from 11:00 a.m. - Noon ET. World AIDS Day provides HRSA the opportunity to bring attention to the HIV epidemic; encourage HIV testing, care, treatment and prevention; show support to those living with HIV and remember those who have died from HIV/AIDS.

The 2020 theme is “Ending the HIV Epidemic: Resilience and Impact.”  

The event will highlight HRSA’s role in the Ending the HIV Epidemic initiative, recognize the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program’s (RWHAP) 30^th anniversary, and celebrate personal stories from people with HIV showing resilience and the impact of the program on their lives. This virtual event is open to all HRSA recipients, national, state, local stakeholders and federal employees.

Participate in the World AIDS Day 2020 Event.

In honor of World AIDS Day, HRSA invites all recipients, stakeholder organizations and federal partners to participate in our Twitter thread campaign. The thread will begin on Tuesday, December 1, and will continue through December 9, when HRSA will host its Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program 2019 annual client-level data rollout webinar. #HRSAHonorsWAD is intended to promote awareness about HIV care and treatment and HRSA’s Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program.

Please consider jumping on HRSA’s Twitter thread and posting your own content that focuses on your program’s goals/accomplishments. Your content does not need to relate directly to the tweet content that day. We also encourage you to like/retweet the posts. Join @HRSAgov on Twitter.