National Rural Health Day

The Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) F. Marie Hall Institute for Rural and Community Healthwill join the National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health and other rural stakeholders in celebrating the inaugural National Rural Health Day on Nov. 17.

National Rural Health Day was created to showcase rural America, increase awareness of rural health-related issues and promote efforts to address those issues. Plans call for National Rural Health Day to become an annual celebration on the third Thursday of November.

Events recognizing National Rural Health Day and “Celebrating the Power of Rural” are planned throughout the nation. In Lubbock, the F. Marie Hall Institute for Rural and Community Health will mark the occasion with several events:

3 to 5 p.m., Nov. 14-18, TTUHSC Academic Classroom Building, 3601 4^th Street, 2AB and 2CB foyers

• Staff available to discuss rural health issues


• Telemedicine demonstrations


• Cotton candy snacks and free promotional items


• Rural health map exhibit and poster presentations


• Scenic photo exhibit

Nov. 17

• Stickers and coloring sheets will be handed out to children in pediatric and family medicine clinics


• A rural physician and a medical student who worked with Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) will make presentations about rural health issues from noon to 1 p.m. in the TTUHSC Academic Classroom Building, Room 150.

The West Texas Area AHEC will also host events through its satellite groups.

Approximately 62 million people—nearly one in five Americans—live in rural and frontier communities throughout the U.S. These communities also face unique health care needs including a growing elderly population, minority-specific diseases and the lack of access to health care specialists like pediatricians, dermatologists and internists.

State offices of rural health are key in addressing those needs. All 50 states maintain a state office of rural health, each of which shares a similar mission: to foster relationships, disseminate information and provide technical assistance that improves access to, and the quality of, health care for its rural citizens. In the past year, state offices of rural health collectively provided technical assistance to more than 28,000 rural communities.

The F. Marie Hall Institute for Rural and Community Health supports rural citizens through programs with the West Texas AHEC and the West Texas Health Information Technology Regional Extension Centerand the Center for Telemedicine.

For more information or to speak to a local rural health expert, contact the TTUHSC Office of Communications and Marketing at (806) 743-2143.

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