HRSA - Office of Rural Health Policy (Rockville, MD) – 2014 Friend of NCHN

The Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP), a part of the Health Resources and Services Administration, was recognized as the 2014 Friend of NCHN, during the 6^th Annual National Cooperative of Health Networks (NCHN) Awards Luncheon in St. Louis, Missouri last month. 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. Award nominations are submitted by NCHN members and reviewed and voted upon by the Awards Committee, which is comprised of previous NCHN award winners.

Since its creation in 1987, ORHP has played a significant role in ensuring that rural communities have access to quality health care. “One of the many ways in which ORHP supports rural health is by providing grants to fund the planning, development, and implementation of health networks,” said Rebecca Davis, Ph.D., Executive Director of NCHN. “No other organization has been as vital to the success of the health network model as HRSA’s Office of Rural Health Policy.”  

In 1997, ORHP implemented the Rural Health Network Development Grant Program and since that time, additional specialized network development programs have been developed, including HIT, Workforce, HIT Workforce, Delta, and Network Development Planning.  “I think our Network Development and Network Planning programs are stronger because of our work and collaboration with NCHN,” said Tom Morris, Administrator of ORHP.  In addition to providing grant funding for networks, numerous ORHP staff members have attended, presented, and assisted with NCHN Conferences and the NCHN Leadership Summit.

“There is a powerful synergy that is created when you have multiple organizations working to see the health network structure succeed and thrive,” said Dr. Davis. “The success of health networks is at the heart of the missions of both NCHN and ORHP. NCHN, our members, and rural communities are fortunate to have ORHP staff as a knowledge resource and ORHP as a supporter of rural health.”

NCHN is a professional membership organization of health network leaders across the nation. Its mission is to support and strengthen health networks through collaboration, networking, leadership development, and education. The Association has members in 31 states. By definition, health networks are formed when three or more health care providers formally come together to better meet the needs of patients in their service area. These providers often include hospitals, community health centers, critical access hospitals, physician practices, mental health providers, rural health clinics and other for-profit and not-for-profit health care organizations. Networks strive to increase access to quality health care for local patients and streamline the cost of that care, as well.  For more information please go to www.nchn.org.