In support of National Rural Health Day 2021, the CSRHA has curated together four insightful episodes from the This Is Rural Health podcast. WHAT IS NATIONAL RURAL HEALTH DAY? Since 2011, the National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health, the 50 State Offices of Rural Health, and rural health stakeholders from across the country have set aside the third Thursday of November to celebrate National Rural Health Day (NRHD). This day promotes the “Power of Rural,” which brings much-needed attention to the ongoing efforts to communicate, educate, collaborate, and innovate to improve the health of an estimated 57 million rural Americans. Over the years, NRHD has transformed from a daylong event to a sustainable movement. To learn more visit: https://www.powerofrural.org/ (powerofrural.org) To learn more about the CSRHA you can visit our website at https://www.csrha.org (csrha.org) Thank you and enjoy this special series celebrating National Rural Health Day on November 18, 2021. --- Today, we are joined by a panel from Western University of Health Sciences, one of the largest medical schools in the US. Facilitating the discussion is CSRHA board member and treasurer Jeff Dunbar. Jeff is the CEO of OffSite Care (OSC), a multispecialty telemedicine company. In this episode, the panel explores the topic of training the physicians of the future and how telemedicine can be an effective tool to prepare them for rural patient care. You’ll hear from Di Lacy, Assistant Vice President, Oregon Campus. “We really did prove for a year that many different sectors can work off-site. Those folks are looking at rural locations [to live]. I think healthcare has got to pay attention to that and we've got to be able to have physicians that really understand how that demographic is changing.” Gregory Pecchia, Senior Director, Academic Innovation and Telehealth, provides a look at some of the challenges that practitioners face with telehealth. “Prior to the pandemic, the literature anecdotally documented the effectiveness of appropriately used virtual care to bridge the quality chasm inherent in many rural health care settings. The pandemic, of course, accelerated the use of such tools sometimes successfully and sometimes not as successfully as one might have otherwise hoped.” Dr. Katsaros, Chair of the Department of Internal Medicine shares an insider’s view on how students are adapting to telehealth training. “It's really fun to see as an educator. To see the excitement in a student and to know that really this is something that's going to contribute to his educational experience in the future and contribute to the way he practices in the future.” Dr. Sanchez, Assistant Dean for the Office of Academic Affairs shares the evolving approach to curriculum development. “The walls of the traditional doctor's offices are now dissolved. And there is no distance between the doctor and the patient with a virtual visit. Now that it's becoming a standard and widely adopted, that's a skill set that the doctors need to have moving forward.” Rounding out the panel discussion is Dr. Loveless, Chief Medical Officer at WesternU Health. He highlights for us how today’s student physicians are well-positioned to step into telehealth environments such as asynchronous medicine and the value this brings to rural health. “I think a big element that is also going to be beneficial in the rural setting is the notion of asynchronous telemedicine. The real challenge, I think, is less around teaching our students and our patients how to do it. It's around figuring out how we're going to get paid for those kinds of interactions.” --- The CSRHA has been a go-to resource for rural healthcare and community leaders since 1995. The CSRHA brings an accumulation of actionable insights to the next generation of rural healthcare leaders. For more information visit our website at csrha.org For more behind the scenes of this podcast follow...

In support of National Rural Health Day 2021, the CSRHA has curated together four insightful episodes from the This Is Rural Health podcast. WHAT IS NATIONAL RURAL HEALTH DAY? Since 2011, the National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health, the 50 State Offices of Rural Health, and rural health stakeholders from across the country have set aside the third Thursday of November to celebrate National Rural Health Day (NRHD). This day promotes the “Power of Rural,” which brings much-needed attention to the ongoing efforts to communicate, educate, collaborate, and innovate to improve the health of an estimated 57 million rural Americans. Over the years, NRHD has transformed from a daylong event to a sustainable movement. To learn more visit: https://www.powerofrural.org/ (powerofrural.org) To learn more about the CSRHA you can visit our website at https://www.csrha.org (csrha.org) Thank you and enjoy this special series celebrating National Rural Health Day on November 18, 2021. --- In this episode, we are joined by Josh Jorgensen from the National Rural Health Association. Josh joined NRHA staff in 2020 and previously served as a legislative aide for U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds. In this role, he worked extensively on rural health care policy. This work included Indian Health Service reform, telehealth advancement, and the creation of a ready reserve within the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. In our conversation with Josh, we cover the key issues to keep an eye on for 2021 and discuss the ways we can best approach elected officials with the issues most important to our communities. We also hear about life on the Hill and how to communicate with empathy when engaging with staffers working for our representatives. Josh offers some great advice for getting started with advocacy and demystifies what often feels like a complex process and makes it accessible for all of us. --- The CSRHA has been a go-to resource for rural healthcare and community leaders since 1995. The CSRHA brings an accumulation of actionable insights to the next generation of rural healthcare leaders. For more information visit our website at csrha.org For more behind the scenes of this podcast follow https://twitter.com/csrhapodcast (@CSRHApodcast) on Twitter or https://www.facebook.com/csrha.advocate/ (@csrha.advocate) on Facebook. If you enjoy This Is Rural Health, we could use your support! Please consider leaving a 5-star rating and review, and share with someone who needs to hear this! Learn more about the CSRHA at https://csrha.org/ (csrha.org)

In support of National Rural Health Day 2021, the CSRHA has curated together four insightful episodes from the This Is Rural Health podcast. WHAT IS NATIONAL RURAL HEALTH DAY? Since 2011, the National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health, the 50 State Offices of Rural Health, and rural health stakeholders from across the country have set aside the third Thursday of November to celebrate National Rural Health Day (NRHD). This day promotes the “Power of Rural,” which brings much-needed attention to the ongoing efforts to communicate, educate, collaborate, and innovate to improve the health of an estimated 57 million rural Americans. Over the years, NRHD has transformed from a daylong event to a sustainable movement. To learn more visit: https://www.powerofrural.org/ (powerofrural.org) To learn more about the CSRHA you can visit our website at https://www.csrha.org (csrha.org) Thank you and enjoy this special series celebrating National Rural Health Day on November 18, 2021. --- June is oral health month, and in this episode, we are joined by Mary McCune and Zachary Corbo from the California Dental Association. Mary McCune serves as the policy director at the CDA where she has advocated for various oral health issues for the past five years. She serves as the primary liaison to the Dental Board of California and represents CDA in various statewide oral health venues, including the State Oral Health Partnership, the Prop. 56 Student Loan Repayment Advisory Committee and the Statewide Child Health and Disability Prevention Oral Health Subcommittee. Zachary is currently an Associate Legislative Advocate at the California Dental Association; his portfolio includes business practices, labor and employment, insurance, and scope of practice. Before joining CDA's Public Affairs team, he worked for The Dentists Insurance Company, a CDA subsidiary. In our conversation with Mary and Zach, we discuss how the industry is preparing for returning patients as California reopens. We hear how the Office of Oral Health is stepping up to the challenge of meeting new pent-up demand and about the many developments on the horizon with the upcoming state budget approval. Programs like CalAIM, which is putting a huge investment into medical and dental care, have strong potential for impact. Still, we also have a long way to go regarding education on the patient side and the effort to rebuild small businesses. We have many things to look forward to in the coming months, and our conversation today with our friends from the California Dental Association gives us insight into what's to come. --- The CSRHA has been a go-to resource for rural healthcare and community leaders since 1995. The CSRHA brings an accumulation of actionable insights to the next generation of rural healthcare leaders. For more information visit our website at csrha.org For more behind the scenes of this podcast follow https://twitter.com/csrhapodcast (@CSRHApodcast) on Twitter or https://www.facebook.com/csrha.advocate/ (@csrha.advocate) on Facebook. If you enjoy This Is Rural Health, we could use your support! Please consider leaving a 5-star rating and review, and share with someone who needs to hear this! Learn more about the CSRHA at https://csrha.org/ (csrha.org)

In support of National Rural Health Day 2021, the CSRHA has curated together four insightful episodes from the This Is Rural Health podcast. WHAT IS NATIONAL RURAL HEALTH DAY? Since 2011, the National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health, the 50 State Offices of Rural Health, and rural health stakeholders from across the country have set aside the third Thursday of November to celebrate National Rural Health Day (NRHD). This day promotes the “Power of Rural,” which brings much-needed attention to the ongoing efforts to communicate, educate, collaborate, and innovate to improve the health of an estimated 57 million rural Americans. Over the years, NRHD has transformed from a daylong event to a sustainable movement. To learn more visit: https://www.powerofrural.org/ (powerofrural.org) To lear more about the CSRHA you can visit our website at https://www.csrha.org (csrha.org) Thank you and enjoy this special series celebrating National Rural Health Day on November 18, 2021. --- Today, for our first episode, we are joined by Dr. Raul Ayala of Adventist Health Central Valley. Dr. Ayala is the 2020 winner of the Community Star Award from the National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health and serves as the Medical Director for over 50 ambulatory clinics in central California. We start our conversation by reflecting on the year that 2020 was and how learning to pivot was key to being able to offer continuous care to the community. One innovative project he is working on is creating virtual care for the homeless. During this difficult time with COVID-19, virtual care was expanded across all clinics. As a result, Dr. Ayala and team collaborated with a local non-profit organization and started providing virtual care for homeless camps. We also discuss the importance of attracting physicians to rural health and hear about the innovative programs Dr. Ayala is championing to make that happen. An advocate for continuing medical education, with his leadership the Central Valley Network will welcome its third graduate medical education residency program in Family Medicine that now includes a Rural Track in Sonora. This will create opportunities to train future physicians that will help fill the gap of physician shortages. Dr. Ayala offers some great advice for stepping forward into the 2021 with confidence and we’re so glad to have him as our inaugural guest on the show. --- The CSRHA has been a go-to resource for rural healthcare and community leaders since 1995. The CSRHA brings an accumulation of actionable insights to the next generation of rural healthcare leaders. For more information visit our website at csrha.org For more behind the scenes of this podcast follow https://twitter.com/csrhapodcast (@CSRHApodcast) on Twitter or https://www.facebook.com/csrha.advocate/ (@csrha.advocate) on Facebook. If you enjoy This Is Rural Health, we could use your support! Please consider leaving a 5-star rating and review, and share with someone who needs to hear this! Learn more about the CSRHA at https://csrha.org/ (csrha.org)

In this episode, we are joined by Dr. Ramiro Zúñiga, Vice President and Medical Director at Health Net and California Health and Wellness. His focus there is to ensure high-quality whole health care to the diverse communities served by both plans. Dr. Zúñiga, has received multiple awards for his clinical, teaching, and residency director roles. It was a pleasure to have him on the show. Our conversation with Dr. Zúñiga spans a wide range of topics from an insider’s look at their innovative program, Bridging the Divide to how he and his team are navigating the challenges of serving 31 counties across California during a pandemic. Dr Zuniga also shares his insights into health equity and many helpful strategies for providing quality care for all Californians.

In this episode, we are joined by Tracey McDonald Mendez, Executive Director of the California School-Based Health Center, Colleen McEvoy Manager of the Bronco Clinic school-based health center in Bishop, and Nichole Mosqueda Chief Administrative Officer of Camerena Health in Madera. In our conversation today we will look further into how school-based health is helping students and surrounding communities. School-based health centers have allowed students to get the help they need quickly and give them knowledge on various topics.

Welcome back to This Is Rural Health and part two of our two-part series on physician recruitment and retention in rural health. In this episode, board president-elect Scott Hertzberg is joined in conversation with board member Regina Levison of Leveson Search Associates and Debra Wiggs of V2V Management Solutions. Deb has been transforming medical care delivery since her career began. She has established rural health clinics, grown multi-specialty physician practices, and facilitated countless strategy sessions that have helped clients achieve a sustainable competitive advantage. As a past board chair of MGMA, she understands the complexity of the healthcare system and knows how to work in it without making it more complicated. Regina has specialized in healthcare recruitment for 38 years. She and her team have recruited physicians, advanced practice providers, C-suite positions, managers, and supervisors throughout California and other states.

Welcome back to season two of This Is Rural Health. We are kicking things off with a special two-part series on physician recruitment and retention in rural health. In this episode, board president-elect Scott Hertzberg is joined in conversation with board member Regina Levison of Leveson Search Associates, and Debra Wiggs of V2V Management Solutions. Regina has specialized in healthcare recruitment for 38 years. She and her team have recruited physicians, advanced practice providers, C-suite positions, managers, and supervisors throughout California and other states. She has worked with hospitals/health systems, medical practices, academic institutions, community clinics, IPAs, hospice organizations, and others. Deb has been transforming medical care delivery since her career began. She has established rural health clinics, grown multi-specialty physician practices, and facilitated countless strategy sessions that have helped clients achieve a sustainable competitive advantage. This special two-part series is called “Finders Keepers,” and we are very excited to bring you this opportunity to learn from two leaders in the field of recruitment.

The CSRHA has been a go-to resource for rural healthcare and community leaders since 1995. The CSRHA brings an accumulation of actionable insights to the next generation of rural healthcare leaders. For more information visit our website at csrha.org For more behind the scenes of this podcast follow https://twitter.com/csrhapodcast (@CSRHApodcast) on Twitter or https://www.facebook.com/csrha.advocate/ (@csrha.advocate) on Facebook. If you enjoy This Is Rural Health, we could use your support! Please consider leaving a 5-star rating and review, and share with someone who needs to hear this! Learn more about the CSRHA at https://csrha.org/ (csrha.org)

After eight episodes filled with eye-opening information about rural health in California, This Is Rural Health is closing off this season with a recap of everything we discussed over four months. Join CSRHA Boardmembers Scott Hertzberg and Michel Schneider and hear their insights and takeaways from this season's most captivating guests like Dr. Raul Ayala, 2020 winner of the Community Star Award, and Mary McCune and Zachary Corbo from the California Dental Association.