Hill Country Memorial (HCM) will join the National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health (NOSORH) and other state/national rural stakeholders in celebrating National Rural Health Day on Thursday, November 21, 2019.
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 and was awarded the 2018 “Outstanding Rural Health Program of the Year” by the National Rural Health Association.
An estimated 57 million people – nearly one in five Americans – live in rural and frontier communities throughout the United States. “These small towns, farming communities and frontier areas are wonderful places to live and work; they are places where neighbors know each other and work together,” says Teryl Eisinger, NOSORH CEO. “The hospitals and providers serving these rural communities not only provide quality patient care, but they also help keep good jobs in rural America.”
These communities also face unique healthcare needs. “Today more than ever, rural communities must tackle accessibility issues, a lack of healthcare providers, the needs of an aging population suffering from a greater number of chronic conditions, and larger percentages of un- and underinsured citizens,” Eisinger says. “Meanwhile, rural hospitals are threatened with declining reimbursement rates and disproportionate funding levels that makes it challenging to serve their residents.”
State Offices of Rural Health play a key role in addressing those needs. All 50 states maintain a State Office of Rural Health, each of which shares a similar mission: to foster relationships, disseminate information and provide technical assistance that improves access to, and the quality of, health care for its rural citizens.
In the Texas Hill Country, Hill Country Memorial has a vision to “Empower others. Create healthy.” HCM supports its communities by continuously delivering high quality, award-winning care and convenience of care through services at its hospital, immediate care clinics, medical offices, wellness center, home care, hospice, imaging, physical therapy, and a host of other specialties. HCM offers programs geared towards creating healthy communities by providing free classes and events with topics such as nutrition, wellness, preventative treatment and health tips.
Additional information about National Rural Health Day can be found at PowerofRural.org. To learn more about NOSORH, visit www.nosorh.org. To learn more about Hill Country Memorial, visit hillcountrymemorial.org.