NCHN Blog
NCHN July Recap: From the Executive Director
From the Executive Director: July 31, 2012
Can you believe that it is already August! The summer is certainly flying by – this time last month we were waiting for the Supreme Court ruling on the Affordable Care Act (ACA); now it seems that folks are moving into the presidential election waiting game. What impact will the election have on health care? Can we afford to wait to see or should we keep moving forward with implementation of provisions of the ACA that directly impacts health networks and those that networks serve? The majority of your peers I talk with are moving ahead, exploring options with their members on how to best deliver quality healthcare services to the patients within their service area. NCHN will continue to monitor the implementation of the ACA and keep you informed of any potential opportunities for health networks.
The NCHN Board of Directors and staff wish Eileen Holloran, Public Health Analyst with the Office of Rural Health Policy, the very best in her upcoming retirement. Eileen has been a strong supporter of health networks and NCHN activities and we will miss her presence at our Leadership Summit and annual Conference. See a final interview with Eileen below.
A number of NCHN activities were announced during July and some will be continuing into August. I encourage you to continue your participation and involvement.
- The new NCHN website was launched in July. One of the new components of the site is the network profile section. Seven (7) members completed their profile in time to receive the discount on the 2013 Conference Registration. Over the few weeks, Christy will be following up with members to assist them with questions about the website and to ensure that all NCHN members’ profiles are posted and up to date.
- The call for Best Practice Models, Success Stories and/or Lessons Learned was issued during July. The deadline to submit your story is Wednesday, August 1. I am anticipating some great examples from NCHN members across the country. If you haven’t already begun to work on your submission, please take a few minutes and do so today. » Download the Submission Form (doc)
- NCHN Staff will be offering two orientation sessions. The first session is on Wednesday, August 8 at 3:00 PM ET. (A second session will be repeated on Thursday, September 6 at 1:00 PM ET.) This is an opportunity for NCHN members to review their membership benefits, learn about NCHN programs and offerings and connect with your peers. Details for the orientations were distributed through a Save the Date emailing. If you plan to participate in the August 8th call, please pre-register here.
- The NCHN 2012 Network Leader Salary & Benefit Survey Report will be distributed later this week to the members that participated in the survey. Thanks to the approximately 65% of the current membership that participated in the survey. If you did not participate in the survey and would like to purchase a copy of the report, please contact me for pricing.
- NCHN’s 2012 Leadership Summit – “Do What You do Best and Link to the Rest” is fast approaching and will be held at The Westin Kansas City at Crown Center in Kansas City, Missouri on September 25, 2012. Deadline for room reservations is August 31, but I would encourage you to make the reservations as soon as possible to ensure that you receive the NCHN rate of $125/night. Lodging details are located elsewhere in the eNews! Registration details will be announced later this week through a special email.
- The RHNR Consulting Task Force has been working for several months on the Health Network Consulting Group initiative and will soon be announcing a call for consultants. NCHN members are eligible to apply to serve as a consultant in the new program.
- The August Coffee/Tea Chat will be held on Wednesday, August 15 at 12:00 PM ET. This is your time to connect with your peers across the nation and discussion what is on your mind.
- The Program Development Committee is working on a comprehensive membership survey and plans to release it during August. Please watch your email box for the survey and take a few minutes to complete. Survey results will be utilized for NCHN programming.
- And the 2013 Conference Planning Committee is working on organizing and planning the 19th Annual NCHN Conference – “All that Jazz” which will be held in New Orleans April 17-19, 2013. The committee will be conducting a short survey about possible pre-conference session(s) and other activities at the 2013 Conference later this month. Please respond to the survey and provide your input to the Conference Planning Committee.
In other news this month, we are so happy to welcome a new member! Welcome to Southeast Oklahoma Rural Health Network and Stacie Pace. I think this is our first member from Oklahoma. We look forward to working with Stacie and welcome you to NCHN! Also, Beverlyann Austin renewed as an Associate Member. We are glad to have Beverlyann continuing her relationship with NCHN and look forward to her participation as an Associate Member.
Enjoy August, if you are vacationing, we wish you safe travels and a wonderful trip.
Rebecca J. Davis, Ph.D.
Ph: 970-712-0732
Link: View the July e-News
2012 Call for Success Stories
Dear NCHN Member:
NCHN collects best practice models, success stories, and lesson learned to share with network leaders. These examples of the work that health networks are doing across the country also submitted for posting on the Rural Assistance Center Website. The example you submit could be a huge success your network enjoyed and celebrated or it could be a project you tried and it didn’t go so well – any activity, project, new program, etc., that you have implemented, expanded or tried and decided not to pursue since last year (January 2011 – June 2012) can be submitted.
So, please think about the past year and share some best practice models, success stories, and/or lessons learned! This is a great opportunity to not only distribute information widely about the great work NCHN members are doing, but it will also add to the public body of knowledge about health networks. The models will be shared through NCHN’s website, as well as on the Rural Assistance Center’s site.
If you haven’t visited NCHN’s networking section on the RAC website, here’s the link to the location that includes NCHN members’ Success Stories since 2007: link to NCHN Success Stories on the RAC website
Take a look at some of the previous Success and Lessons Learned stories posted by NCHN members and add your 2011-2012 stories today! Thanks in advance for your assistance with this project, which is designed to expand our collective networking knowledge and experience! Every NCHN member is encouraged to submit a story for 2011-2012 --- even if you have submitted a story before, please submit a new one! Info about a new project/activity/program your network may have worked on since January 2011 is sought.
The NCHN Program Development Committee has assumed management of this NCHN project and the committee members challenge you to submit your story today – all success stories received by August 1, 2012 will be included in a drawing for a $15.00 gift card.
If you have questions about this project, please contact Rebecca Davis at rdavis@nchn.org or by calling 970-712-0732.
Thank you for your participation in this project!
2012 Program Development Committee Members
NCHN Executive Director & NCHN Member Attend White House Community Leaders Briefing
The event began with a briefing by senior Obama Administration officials including Jack Lew, White House Chief of Staff; Judy Canales, Deputy Under Secretary, USDA, Danielle Gray, Deputy Assistant to the President, National Economic Council; Carlos Monje, Chief of Staff, Domestic Policy Council; and Jon Carson, Director, White House Office of Public Engagement.;
During the Briefing, Dr. Davis had the opportunity to describe the work of NCHN and its members and introduce Tim Size, Executive Director of the Rural Wisconsin Hospital Cooperative as one example of the cooperative health organizations that has been in operation since 1979.
“Every day cooperatives around the United States are stimulating the economy and we are pleased to have the opportunity to discuss our successes in job creation and ways to use the cooperative model to continue to strengthen communities large and small," said Liz Bailey, interim president and chief executive officer of the National Cooperative Business Association. According to Ms. Bailey, two million jobs are generated each year as a direct result of cooperatives, which illustrates the incredible impact that these organizations have on local economies. The NCBA reports there are currently 29,000 cooperative businesses nationwide spanning most industries, including agriculture, energy, financial service and credit unions, food distribution, healthcare, housing retail and telecommunications. United States cooperatives account for more than $3 trillion in assets, over $500 billion in total revenue and $25 billion in wages and benefits.
The White House Community Leaders Briefing is a weekly program that provides a unique opportunity for community leaders to have a dialogue with the White House about issues that are affecting their communities as well as to ensure that they are well informed about government policies and programs and how they can use or maximize these resources.
2012 NCHN Awards
Congratulations to the 2012 NCHN Award Winners
- New and Emerging Network Leader of the Year: Toniann Richard
- Outstanding Network Leader of the Year: Jack King
- Outstanding Network of the Year: The Hospital Cooperative
- Friend of the Association: National Rural Health Association
Left: Toniann Richard, Executive Director, Health Care Coalition of Rural Missouri, receives the 2012 Outstanding New & Emerging Network Leader of the Year Award. The Outstanding New & Emerging Network Leader Award recognizes extraordinary leadership activities demonstrated by a new network leader/director in the field of health networks (network leader less than five years). 
Right: Jack King, Executive Director of Northern Montana Health Alliance accepts the 2012 Outstanding Network Leader of the Year award. The Outstanding Network Leader of the Year Award recognizes a network leader/director for leadership in managing a successful health network organization.
Left: Jon Smith, Executive Director, accepts the 2012 Outstanding Health Network of the Year on behalf of The Hospital Cooperative (ID). The Outstanding Health Network of the Year Award recognizes any network or entire network organization that has improved access to health services in its service area and coordination of resources for network members through innovative, comprehensive approaches. 
Right: Alan Morgan, CEO, accepts the 2012 Friend of NCHN award on behalf of National Rural Health Association (NRHA)
The Friend of NCHN Award is given to recognize a program, institution, agency, or individual that has advocated for or provided extraordinary support to the Association. Associate members are eligible to recieve the Frend of NCHN award.
Visit NCHN's Facebook for more Conference and Award photos.