Hart named director of Center for Rural Health

L. Gary Hart has been named director of the Center for Rural Health at the School of Medicine and Health Sciences.

“I am extremely pleased that we have been able to recruit someone of Dr. Hart’s stature to lead the Center for Rural Health,” said Joshua Wynne, vice president for health affairs and dean of the School of Medicine and Health Sciences. “He is a nationally recognized expert in rural health care delivery, and has a particular expertise in health care workforce issues. Because of his expertise, he will be of great help as we develop our health care workforce plan for North Dakota.”

“I appreciate the hard work of the search committee, which was led by Dr. Rob Beattie, chair of the Department of Family and Community Medicine,” said Wynne. “I also appreciate the outstanding efforts of Brad Gibbens and Marlene Miller who have provided strong interim leadership of the Center for Rural Health while the search for the new director took place.”

Hart graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a Bachelor of Science in Geography and a Secondary School Teaching Certification from the University of Utah, where he also earned his Master of Science in Geography. He is a graduate of the Doctoral Opportunities Program in the Department of Health Services at the University of Washington School of Public Health. Hart received his Ph.D. in Medical Geography from the University of Washington.

Before joining the CRH, Hart was director and endowed professor of the Rural Health Office in the Community, Environment and Policy Division of the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health at the University of Arizona in Tucson. He served on the advisory committee of the Arizona Area Health Education Center at the University of Arizona, which seeks to improve the health of individuals and communities by transforming health care through education.

Hart has research interests in rural health, health workforce, rural geographic taxonomies, access to health care, state and federal rural policy, and rural health care for the elderly, infant, and underserved. He has professional expertise in geographic and workforce analysis, geographic taxonomies, survey methodology, rural health and policy, and health workforce and policy.

Hart’s extensive research findings have been widely published by respected professional journals in medical geography, family medicine, health education and health workforce, and rural health research and policy.

Hart and his wife Michelle, a registered nurse, have three children: Brandon, Brittany and Sarah.

As director of the CRH, Hart will guide over 50 faculty and staff dedicated to improving health opportunities and outcomes for rural Americans. The CRH places emphasis on the importance of rural communities’ developing appropriate capacity and skills to shape their own health systems. Center faculty and staff use health services research, community development, program evaluation, public policy, information dissemination, and education and training as approaches to strengthen America’s rural health.

The Center works with rural health organizations such as hospitals, clinics, public health, long-term care, ambulances, and other health facilities along with other rural organizations such as economic development or job development authorities, faith-based groups, local governments, schools and colleges, and other entities.

— Denis MacLeod, assistant director, Office of Alumni and Community Relations, UND School of Medicine and Health Sciences, 777-2733, dmacleod@medicine.nodak.edu.