On Nov. 16, Ohio University celebrated National Rural Health Day with a panel of health care officials and educators discussing the necessity of caring for the 20 percent of the nation that lives in a rural environment. The luncheon was hosted by Jane Hamel-Lambert, Ph.D., M.B.A., director of the Appalachian Rural Health Institute and associate professor of family medicine, who has been working with the Ohio Department of Health to organize a state rural health association. Nick Gatz, Southeast Ohio Regional Liaison of the Office of the Governor and an alumnus of Ohio University, read Governor John Kasich's Proclamation of Ohio Rural Health Day, to be held annually on Nov. 15.

Andrew Morris-Singer, M.D., the president of Primary Care Progress, then spoke about re-energizing primary care and the importance of the Patient Centered Medical Home model, which his organization advocates for its team-based approach to primary care. He applauded osteopathic medical education, and the State of Ohio, for producing so many primary care physicians-more than most allopathic schools, he said.

"This state really gets primary care," he said. "It really gets rural health."

Following the speech, Randy Longenecker, M.D., assistant dean, Rural & Underserved Programs and professor of family medicine; Averell S. Overby, P.T., M.A., Ph.D., interim associate dean for special initiatives in the dean's office at the College of Health Sciences and Professions; and Kathy Trace, M.H.A., B.S.N, director of the Area Health Education Center and Community Health Services; each gave a report on the campus and community efforts of their programs. Tina L. Turner, rural health administrator, provided an update from the Ohio Department of Health (ODH) and Crescent Gallagher, G.A., discussed the creation of a new Ohio Rural Health Association, which has been a project of ARHI and the ODH for the past year. Click here to read a story in The Athens Messenger about the project.

The event was sponsored by the ARHI.