VIDEO: Celebrating power of rural communities

Leading up to National Rural Health Day on Nov. 19, Center for Rural Health Director Jacob Warren talks about Center’s regional role

Jacob Warren, director of the Center for Rural Health, joins President Andrew Armacost for this week’s video to wish the campus community a Happy National Rural Health Day.

Thursday, Nov. 19, marks the country’s 15th year of observance, celebrating the power of rural communities and the work that happens year-round in promoting rural health care.

Given North Dakota’s positioning as a rurally populated state, Rural Health Day is a time to celebrate the state as a whole, Warren says.

Armacost asks Warren about the Center for Rural Health’s role on campus, across the state and nationally, as well as about the needs facing rural communities today.

Warren shares that the CRH has a dual role in the federal government’s Rural Health Transformation Program, which will see $1 billion coming to North Dakota over the next five years.

Through that program, the CRH will help create programs addressing areas such as localized health worker training and care coordination while also awarding funds to communities to implement their own programs.

“We’ll be helping them manage that process, look at their outcomes and see how that impact magnifies across the whole state,” Warren says.

Armacost also brings up the recent relaunch of UND’s Grand Challenges initiative, with the “Rural Health” Grand Challenge shifting to “Thriving Rural Communities.”

Warren says it’s a change that will go beyond health care in understanding and addressing what rural communities need to thrive, which will help connect more disciplines across campus to promote rural sustainability.