On Maryland Rural Health Day, a focus on Marylanders’ access to care
Department hosting a webinar on challenges, successes today at noon
Baltimore, MD (November 17, 2016) – Maryland Governor Larry Hogan has declared November 17 to be Maryland Rural Health Day. In accordance with this effort of raising awareness of the health priorities facing our residents in rural areas, the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s Office of Rural Health and its partners throughout the state are sharing in that effort with the hosting of a webinar today at noon.
The State of Maryland categorizes 18 out of the 24 counties or jurisdictions as rural. Twelve percent of Maryland's residents live in rural areas. Deputy Secretary for Public Health Services Dr. Howard Haft says that Maryland's rural communities “face unique health care concerns that include lack of health care providers and difficulty accessing existing providers because of transportation and technology barriers.” Rural hospitals and healthcare providers, which frequently are the economic backbone of the communities they serve, deserve special consideration so that they can continue to provide high-quality services and meet the needs of rural residents.
The Office of Rural Health and the department’s Healthcare Workforce Programs address these needs through local and federal partnerships to develop policy and programs that serve rural areas’ residents. These programs include such health care workforce programs as the State Loan Repayment Program, National Health Service Corps, Preceptor Tax Credit Incentive Program and the J-1 waiver program. These programs increase recruitment and the retention of healthcare providers to rural and under-served areas in Maryland.
The Office of Rural Health will highlight both rural health issues and the work being done across Maryland to achieve health care access and equity, by hosting a webinar today at Please contact the Maryland State Office of Rural Health director, Temi Oshiyoye, for instructions on how to access this webinar.
Maryland’s rural counties include; Allegany, Calvert, Caroline, Carroll, Cecil, Charles, Dorchester, Frederick, Garrett, Harford, Kent, Queen Anne’s, Somerset, St. Mary’s, Talbot, Washington, Wicomico and Worcester.
###