On the eve of the 50th Annual Rural Health Conference, coordinated by the Arizona Center for Rural Health, we look back on the many ways that the Center, working in close collaboration with a range of community partners, has made life and health better for rural Arizonans.

Since the detection of H5N1 in dairy cattle, the Federal response has leveraged the latest available scientific data, field epidemiology, and risk assessments to mitigate risks to workers and the general public, to ensure the safety of America’s food supply and to mitigate risk to livestock, owners, and producers.

Each year, the AzAHEC Program and Regional Centers partner with the nine Rural Health Professions Programs based in Arizona’s three public universities – UArizona, Arizona State University and Northern Arizona University – as well as professional organizations and communities to provide a variety of training and educational events.

CMS’s New Resource of Health Equity-related Data. The Office of Minority Health at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) offers a table of suggested definitions, standards, and stratification practices for nine health equity-related data elements.  The resource can help providers, states, community organizations, researchers, and others collecting and/or stratifying data to align with CMS’s Framework for Health Equity. It may also clarify differences in results that may arise when different data standards are used.

Sage Memorial Hospital has built a 95,614-square-foot state-of-the-art hospital that is more than twice the size of the original hospital and will significantly increase patient capacity.

The health disparities between rural and urban Americans have long been documented, but a recent report from the Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service found the chasm has grown in recent decades.

the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), announced that it has increased by 50% the initial loan repayment amount available to primary care providers—M.D.s and D.O.s, including OB-GYNs and pediatricians; nurse practitioners; certified nurse midwives; and physician assistants—who commit to practicing in areas with significant shortages of primary care providers.

Arizona Senators Mark Kelly and Kyrsten Sinema announced $25,018,000 in federal investments they secured for Arizona priorities that include support for Arizona small businesses, wildfire and flood prevention, a stronger microchip manufacturing workforce, increased access to life-saving cancer treatment, increased access to rural health care, and more.