Averting rural hospital closures – NRHA launches Leadership Challenge
KANSAS CITY, Missouri – With more than 130 hospitals closing over the past decade, rural health care faces complex and urgent situations in the United States. To address these critical issues, the National Rural Health Association has launched a three-year rural Leadership Challenge to raise $1 million for scholarships and support.
“Rural health care delivery – both inside and outside of rural hospitals and clinics – continues to confront a variety of issues that are unique to rural areas,” said Alan Morgan, Chief Executive Officer of the National Rural Health Association (NRHA). “Fortunately, NRHA already has programs in place to help effectively address these issues and strengthen rural hospitals and health care delivery across the nation.”
NRHA leverages two proven programs that NRHA has been developing and implementing for almost a decade – the intensive NRHA Fellows program, and C-level (CEO, CFO, CNO) executive leadership training administered by the Center for Rural Leadership (CRHL) to support and train current and future health care leaders.
“Since rural hospitals and health care professionals provide an economic and societal anchor for rural communities, this is a critical time for rural health care in America –the key differentiator that brings success centers on the quality and depth of executive leadership,” Morgan continued. “We are looking to corporations, organizations and individuals to contribute to the Rural Health and Leadership Education Foundation to help us provide critical funding and scholarships so more professionals can take part in this training.”
The Rural Health Fellows Leadership program provides participants with a year-long intensive training program that develops rural leaders who will step forward to serve in key positions in NRHA, affiliated rural health advocacy groups, and local state legislative bodies. The Fellows program encourages the diversity of rural leaders and a focus on health equity for rural communities.
Through proven programs developed and administered by high-performing administrators, CRHL provides hands-on training and support for rural hospital CEOs, chief financial officers and other C-level executives to help elevate administrative and executive functions.
NRHA has selected two nationally qualified co-chairs for the campaign. They are Marcia K. Brand, PhD, and Tim Putnam, DHA, MBA. Dr. Brand is a national strategic health care consultant and former Deputy Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). She also serves as chair of the Rural Health Leadership and Education Foundation, which celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2021. Tim Putnam holds lengthy successful experience as a recognized high-performing rural hospital CEO, and also presently serves on President Biden’s COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force. Dr. Putnam has helped develop and present several of the CRL executive training programs and was recently featured in the national Healthleaders publication.
“Providing current and future leaders with the opportunity to deepen their capacity and forge important networks with other leaders is critical for success in today’s health care environment,” said Dr. Brand. “A health equity focus is critical to ensure that all people in rural America have access to the highest quality of care – graduates of our Fellows programs work in important areas to help achieve this, including universities, health care facilities, professional settings and NRHA itself.”
“Leading a rural hospital or practice is generally substantively different from what executives may experience in an urban setting,” said Dr. Putnam. “It requires a different mindset and skillset to meet the numerous complex challenges inherent in a rural health care operation.”
Both co-chairs noted their expectation to actively pursue positive outcomes for the NRHA Leadership Challenge. “Too many rural hospitals have closed, and we need strong leadership to ensure that rural health care delivery thrives in the coming years,” said Dr. Putnam. “I look forward to helping tell the important story about how future leaders funded by this challenge can improve health care delivery for the 62 million Americans who live in rural areas,” said Dr. Brand.
More information about the Leadership Challenge (including a secure online donation form) is available at https://rhlef.org/ and https://www.ruralhealthweb.org/helpruralhealth. Additional information about the NRHA Fellows Program is available at ttps://www.ruralhealthweb.org/programs/rural-health-fellows and more information about the Center for Rural Health Leadership programs can be accessed at: https://www.crhleadership.com/
Contributions and pledges for the Leadership Challenge can be made online or mailed to the NRHA office in Kansas City. To inquire about pledges and other means of contributions, please email leadershipchallenge@rhlef.org
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About NRHA – The National Rural Health Association (NRHA) is a national nonprofit membership organization with more than 21,000 members. The association’s mission is to provide leadership on rural health issues through advocacy, communications, education and research. NRHA membership consists of a diverse collection of individuals and organizations, all of whom share the common bond of an interest in rural health. For more information, please visit https://www.ruralhealthweb.org/
For more information, contact Michael Snyder, MEK