News

I am pleased to announce that Ernie Scott has been appointed Director of the Kentucky Office of Rural Health (KORH), effective November 1. Mr. Scott joined the KORH in January 2012 as Rural Project Manager. Prior to his role at the KORH, he was employed by Mountain Comprehensive Health Corporation as the Director of Planning and Special Projects. Ernie brings over 15 years of valuable rural healthcare experience ranging from clinic to hospital to academic settings.

The Center of Excellence in Rural Health (UK CERH) and the Kentucky Office of Rural Health (KORH) want to “celebrate the power of rural” and create excitement throughout Kentucky by having an amateur photo contest. Share your love of all things rural, through your art of photography. Rural landscape photos and rural health related photos will be accepted now through November 14th. For details see the flyer below.

Kentucky Homeplace has been awarded a second gift of $150,000 from the Anthem Foundation to continue work on a special research project," Improving Diabetes Outcomes Phase Two (I DO 2)." The gift enables Kentucky Homeplace to expand the work in diabetes self-management education (DSME) that it began with the first gift received from the Anthem foundation in 2011, said William Mace Baker, director of Kentucky Homeplace. The DSME model involves Kentucky Homeplace community health workers (CHWs) supporting nurse-led education modules.

By Chris Ritchie, Editor, Hazard Herald Researchers with the University of Kentucky are set to begin a study this month to evaluate the effectiveness of smoking cessation when coupled with weight management, and they’re looking for local residents to take part. In 2012 Kentucky recorded the highest rate of smoking in the nation, and the 10th highest rate of obesity.

The Community and Economic Development Initiative of Kentucky (CEDIK) through the University of Kentucky’s College of Agriculture, Food and the Environment, along with Kentucky Office of Rural Health (KORH) and the Kentucky Hospital Association (KHA), is interested in funding efforts to support Healthy Rural Communities. This program provides funds to rural hospitals and healthcare coalitions to assist them in addressing health issues in their communities.

As a native Kentuckian, the University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center's Dr. Susanne Arnold understands many of the health issues our state faces — and focusing on the problems that hit hardest close to home has kept her motivated in her work.

"I got into research in Appalachia because I'm an eighth-generation Kentuckian, and my father, who was also a doctor and researcher, was a seventh-generation Kentuckian," Arnold said. "I learned a very valuable lesson from him — that we can't make progress in the treatment of diseases without being invested in the research that we do."

The Southeast Kentucky Area Health Education Center (AHEC) and the University of Kentucky (UK) Center of Excellence in Rural Health (CERH) hosted the annual Summer Health Careers Enrichment Camp June 12-25, 2013.  The camp, which is a joint project between the two organizations, brings together ninth and tenth graders from Perry and surrounding counties for a two-week camp aimed at enhancing students’ interest in health care careers.

The Kentucky Office of Rural Health will host the 2013 Region B Meeting of the southeastern State Offices of Rural Health.  The meeting is convened in association with the National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health and will be held in Lexington, Ky., August 6-8, 2013.

UK ‘Gives Kids a Smile’ with free dental care
by Amelia Holliday
Hazard-Herald

HAZARD — UK Healthcare hosted its seventh annual “Give Kids a Smile” at the Hazard Walmart on Monday, giving many children — and their parents — a reason to smile with free dental examinations and cleanings.

Dr. Nikki Stone, one of the head dentists at the event, said around 40 kids had come out to have their teeth cleaned so far at the Ronald McDonald Care Mobile.

UK NORTH FORK VALLEY DENTAL OUTREACH TEAM PARTNERS WITH UK CENTER OF EXCELLENCE IN RURAL HEALTH TO GIVE KIDS A SMILE®

Hazard, Ky. (June 18, 2013) – An estimated 150 children will receive free preventive dental care in Perry County. The service will be provided by the University of Kentucky (UK) dental outreach team from the UK North Fork Valley Community Health Center (NFVCHC) in Hazard, and partners at the UK Center of Excellence in Rural Health (CERH), as part of the American Dental Association’s Give Kids A Smile® Program.

The Health Careers Enrichment Camp will run June 12th – 25th at the Center of Excellence in Rural Health. The camp, an annual joint project with the UK Center of Excellence in Rural Health and the Southeast Kentucky Area Health Education Center (AHEC) will host twenty 9th and 10th graders, and will provide educational sessions on topics related to health care careers and the sciences. For more information about the Health Careers Enrichment Camp, contact LeeAnn Helton, UKCERH Student Services Officer at (859)218-3508 or leeann.helton@uky.edu.

UK CENTER OF EXCELLENCE IN RURAL HEALTH RECOGNIZES UK COLLEGE OF SOCIAL WORK MSW GRADUATES

By Shane Allen

Hazard, Ky. (May 23, 2013) –  The University of Kentucky (UK) Center of Excellence in Rural Health (CERH) recognized the 2013 graduates of UK’s Southeast Kentucky Masters of Social Work (SEKY MSW) program.  Family members and friends gathered at the Knott County Central Auditorium in Hindman on May 3 to honor the 15 graduates during a commencement and community celebration.

Kayla Combs Whitaker and Kimberly Boggs, rural project managers for the Kentucky Office of Rural Health (KORH), attended the National Rural Health Resource Center (NRHRC) Rural Hospital Flexibility Program Workshop in April in Duluth, Minnesota.

Topics at the workshop included national quality initiatives, Medicare beneficiary quality improvement project initiatives, rural health networking, assessing health needs and other topics relevant to rural health.

For one University of Kentucky doctorate of physical therapy (DPT) student, a passion for sports and a talent for physical therapy research have converged to create an extraordinary opportunity: Daniel Eck has been selected to present his research findings at the American Physical Therapy Association’s 2013 conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, June 26 – 29. Eck’s research focused on the musculature of the shoulder blade in high school baseball pitchers. Strength assessments were performed on pitchers before, immediately after, and four consecutive days after pitching.

Video by UK Research Reveal Media

 

Free information sessions to learn more about the doctorate in physical therapy degree at the UK Center for Excellence In Rural Health in Hazard will be held February 13 and April 9, 2013. Sessions will begin at 2:00 pm in room 218 of the Bailey-Stumbo Building, 750 Morton Blvd., Hazard. To register for one of the sessions, contact student services at 439-3557, ext. 83508 or toll free at 855-859-2374.

The UK Center of Excellence in Rural Health was established in 1990 to address health disparities in rural Kentucky, including a chronic shortage of health professionals and residents’ poor health status. The Center accomplishes this through health professionals education, health policy research, health care service and community engagement. The Center serves as the federally designated Kentucky Office of Rural Health (KORH).