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Virginia Rural Health News
>>Health Reform May Expand Non-physician Roles
>>Physician Assistants Fill a Growing Medical Need
>>Rural Hospital Quality Improvement

National Rural Health News
>>Berwick Picked To Head CMS
>>Health Care = Jobs
>>Nursing Education Partnerships

By Lindsey Ward - WSLS (Roanoke)

In the medical community, it’s no secret many rural areas are facing crisis level workforce shortages and the need for health professionals will drastically change when everyone has health insurance.
   
According to Executive Director of the Virginia Rural Health Association, Beth O’Connor, recruiting doctors to small towns has been an issue for a while. She says it’s not just about quality of life for doctors, but they simply make more money as a specialist or at a hospital, in say, Fairfax.

“They have to be able to repay their student loans, they have to be able to buy malpractice insurance, they have many, many issues, that when you’re in a small rural area with a lower volume of patients sometimes it’s harder for them to keep up,” says O’Connor.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is designed to do two things for rural America. First, solve the workforce shortage predicament. Second, eliminate serious payment inequities.

Click here to read the full transcript or watch the video.

Virginian Leader

The official ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Carilion Giles Community Hospital was held on Tuesday, May 4, 2010 in Pearisburg. Great weather welcomed a good crowd for this important event that brings a new, state-of-the-art medical facility to Giles County.

The current facility, Carilion Giles Memorial Hospital, was dedicated in December 1950, almost 60 years ago. Participating in Tuesday’s ribbon-cutting were Allen Morgan, CEO, National Rural Health Association; Delegate Anne B. Crockett-Stark; Melina Perdue, senior vice-president, Carilion Clinic; Senator John S. Edwards; Delegate James M. Shuler, DVM; Dr. Edward Murphy, president and CEO, Carilion Clinic; James Hartley, chairman, Carilion Clinic Board, director, CGMH Board; and James Tyler, vice-president and CEO, CGCH.

Read the full article, or view similar stories with Bluefield Daily Telegraph, or WSLS

Health Reform May Expand Non-physician Roles

By Sarah Bruyn Jones - Roanoke Times

Doctor shortages, an aging population and national health care reform have raised the profile of physician assistants, one of the fastest-growing professions.

In Roanoke, a surge of applicants seeking entrance into one of the four physician assistant education programs in Virginia has been just one of the results of the profession's climb.

Just five years ago, Jefferson College of Health Sciences had 150 people apply to attend its physician assistant program. Last year, 546 applied. Expectations are that as many as 650 people will vie for 40 spots in the class that begins in the fall 2011.

Read the full article.

The Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation has awarded American Heart Association/American Stroke Association (AHA) a $30,000 grant to support stroke quality improvement in Virginia hospitals.  The award will provide six qualified rural hospitals the opportunity to participate in Get With The Guidelines-Stroke®, including eligibility for national level awards.  

Tiffany McGhee, quality improvement director for AHA in Virginia, will provide close consultation and support to help participating sites implement and achieve performance improvements.  The gift demonstrates a strong endorsement from the Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation for stroke systems of care in Virginia. 

Kaiser Health News has compiled news organizations reports on President Barack Obama's official nomination of Dr. Donald Berwick to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). A few samples:

The Wall Street Journal: "Berwick, president of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement in Cambridge, Mass., and a pediatrician by trade, first emerged as President Barack Obama's choice for the position in late March. ... 'Dr. Berwick has dedicated his career to improving outcomes for patients and providing better care at lower cost," Obama said. "That's one of the core missions facing our next CMS Administrator, and I'm confident that Don will be an outstanding leader for the agency and the millions of Americans it serves'" (Yoest, 4/19).

The Washington Post: "If confirmed by the Senate, Berwick will play a pivotal -- and challenging -- role in implementing the recently enacted health-care overhaul legislation. ... Berwick ... has never led such a large organization. As head of the Boston-based Institute for Healthcare Improvement, however, he is known for persuading doctors and hospitals to adopt innovative methods for reducing medical errors" Aizenman, 4/20). 

Click here to view the full list.

By Mark Trahant - Daily Yonder

This is simple math: Health care equals jobs.

And the new health care reform law means even more jobs. In many communities across the United States, the health care industry is the region’s top employer. Indeed, if you put this in a global perspective, the National Health Service in the United Kingdom now employs 1 in every 23 workers in that country, some 1.3 million people.

The demand for health care workers in Indian Country represents a public policy paradox: We need jobs in communities where the official unemployment rate is about 50 percent, yet the Indian Health Service reports shortages of health professionals. 

Read the full article.

By Candi Helseth - Rural Monitor

After her grandmother became sick, Shelly Deyo decided she wanted to be a nurse working with the elderly. Deyo also wanted to teach and work in management. She has found the perfect job in her current position as director of assisted living at St. Clare Meadows Care Center, a nursing facility licensed for 25 beds in Baraboo, Wis. In addition, Deyo works as a coach and preceptor with the Wisconsin Nurse Residency Program (WNRP), helping new nurses develop the critical thinking skills and knowledge base they need to successfully handle the unique demands of rural nursing.

Deyo credits WNRP for providing the support she needed to succeed when she was a new nurse graduate. “Being in the nurse residency program gave me a better foundation, more confidence and more knowledge in core nursing areas,” Deyo said.

Read the full article.

Mark your calendar

For more information about these and other events, visit http://www.vrha.org/events.html

May 12: Contracting with the VA for Veterans' Mental Health Services - webinar
May 12 & 13: Virginia Community Healthcare Association Leadership and Education Conference - Richmond
May 14: Strong Roots for a Healthy Future: Treatments that Work for Youth - Richmond
May 14: 2010 Health Equity CME Program - Falls Church
May 17 & 18: Statewide Summit on Childhood Obesity - Richmond
May 19 - 21: NRHA's Annual Rural Health Conference - Savannah, GA
June 2-5: National Association for Rural Mental Health Annual Conference - Denver, CO
June 16-18: Medication Use in Rural America Conference - Kansas City, MO

Resources

Stroke Discharge Packet Guide Online
Virginia Stroke Systems Acute Project Team has developed a sample stroke discharge packet and guide that meets national recommendations and is customizable to meet individual provider’s needs. 

Affordable Health Care for America: Small Business Guide
Explains how the new health law offers access to affordable and quality health care to small businesses.

New From the Medicare Learning Network

The April 2010 Edition of the Medicare Learning Network (MLN) Catalog of Products is now available and may be accessed at  http://www.cms.gov/MLNproducts on the CMS website.  The MLN Products Catalog is an interactive downloadable document that lists all Medicare Learning Network products by media format. The catalog has been revised to provide new customer-friendly links that are embedded within the document. All product titles and the word "download" when selected, will link you to the online version of the product. The word "hard copy" when selected, will automatically link you to the MLN Product Ordering page. To access the catalog, click on the link called MLN Product Catalog.

The revised Rehabilitation Therapy Information Resource for Medicare Fact Sheet (April 2010) is now available in downloadable format from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Medicare Learning Network.  This fact sheet provides guidance and resources related to rehabilitation therapy services, coverage requirements, and payment systems.

Immediate Effects of Health Reform
In a new policy brief from Health Affairs and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the near-term effects of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act are examined and enumerated, providing context for key immediate reforms to the private health insurance market that will take effect in 2010 and 2011.

Funding Opportunities

Virginia Nursing Scholarships
Presently, the Virginia Department of Health, Office of Minority Health and Public Health Policy offers several scholarship opportunities to help pay for nursing education. If you apply to any of our scholarship opportunities.

Rural Law Enforcement Meth Initiative
A two-year project funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that will work to prevent the use of methamphetamine in rural areas.

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation: Getting Americans Covered: Ideas from the Field
Getting Americans Covered: Ideas from the Field, an initiative of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, supports projects that promote the Foundation’s goal of ensuring that all Americans have stable, affordable health care coverage. Through this call for proposals, the Foundation will fund projects that focus on addressing specific aspects of the new health care law that present significant opportunities to expand coverage (e.g., Medicaid expansions, subsidy programs for small businesses and individuals who otherwise would not be able to afford insurance, or private-market health insurance reforms). Grants of up to $250,000 each will be provided. The application deadline for brief proposals is May 27, 2010. Visit the Foundation’s website to review the funding guidelines and application procedure.

NHSC half time loan repayment pilot
The NHSC half-time loan repayment program pilot that is now open and available for primary care clinicians to apply. The program will be open for 30 days. Deadline is May 20.

NHSC scholarship program
The NHSC Scholarship Program for students pursuing careers in primary care is open until June 1.