Chautauqua Institution Site of Annual NYSARH Conference

The 5th annual New York State Association for Rural Health Conference will be held at the historic Chautauqua Institution, Chautauqua, New York, from September 11 through 13, 2006. This year’s conference theme is RURAL HEALTH – A Synergy of Tradition, Technology and Collaboration.

At the request of last year’s conference attendees, the focus of the general sessions and workshops will be quality, leadership, and communication. Local, regional, and national experts will present on a variety of timely topics. Legislative and HRSA updates will be provided.

Michael Beachler, Director of the Rural Health Policy Center of Penn State University College of Medicine, is the keynote speaker and will address issues pertaining to access to care in rural areas. He serves as the program director of the Southern Rural Access Program, a regional effort to improve access to basic healthcare in eight of the underserved rural states in the United States . Mr. Beachler has also served as a senior program officer for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), co-chaired the Grantmakers in Health Task Force on Maternal and Child Health, and served as convener of the RWJF Substance Abuse Goal Group.

As an added bonus, Marcia Brand, Ph.D., Director of the Office of Rural Health Policy at HRSA, will be our guest speaker for the Annual Awards Dinner, scheduled for September 12 th at 6:45 p.m. Dr. Brand has been a steadfast supporter of NYSARH and has been a keynote speaker at two previous conferences. You will find Dr. Brand delightful and engaging as she discusses pertinent information regarding legislative trends affecting rural areas.

The conference schedule also offers networking opportunities through the Blue Grass Bar-B-Que and Exhibitors’ Afternoon Delight Reception.

Other topics on the conference agenda include: NYSARH Quality Initiative Focus; Delivering Hope with Culturally Competent Health Services in Amish Country; Recognizing Waterborne Disease and the Health Effects of Water Contamination in Rural Areas; Pandemic Flu; Using Trust for Treating Chemical Dependency; A Three-Dimensional Perspective on Quality; Oral Health; Communication and Capacity-Building Through Technology: Uses, Abuses and No Excuses; Close Encounters of the Intercultural Kind; and Friday Nite in the ER, a simulation decision-making tool.

Please consider joining us. Click here for a conference brochure.