During the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government increased funding to hospitals and clinics and incentivized states to pause terminating enrollees from the Medicaid program to help increase access to health care and ease the financial burden caused by the global public health emergency. With the end of the pandemic in sight, we all need to prepare for the unwinding of the public health emergency (PHE). TennCare (our state’s Medicaid agency) has estimated that 300,000 people will lose their Medicaid health insurance after the PHE ends.

Hospitals and clinics are bracing for a significant reduction in funding, particularly in rural areas where providers were struggling even before the pandemic to provide health care to many uninsured people. Join the Rural Health Association of Tennessee and the Tennessee Justice Center to learn how the PHE unwinding will impact access to health care in your community. Click here to register today!

The Rural Health Association of Tennessee hosts a webinar titled, "Time Out for Men's Health" on June 02, 2022 from 10am-11am CST. Our guest speaker is Mike Leventhal, Executive Director with the Men's Health Network- Tennessee.

1. Who is Men's Health Network and why is men's health important?
2. "The Silent Crisis" that is men's health.
3. Ways and means for public health professionals to get involved and become part of the men's health movement.

We'd like for you to join us for this virtual event! Register Here

Registration for this event is closed. 

Join us on May 17th from 9:00am-2:00pm ET at Bishop Hall at East Tennessee State University as we partner with ETSU Rural and Community Programs and Coordinated School Health to bring you RHA of TN's East Tennessee Regional Event: "Rural Resilience: Strengthening Restoration through Partnerships and Collaboration."

WEST TN COMMUNITY RESOURCE EXPO

Everyone is welcome! Stop by to learn about health and wellness, employment opportunities, apprenticeships, volunteer programs, home ownership, education, and other resources.

For a table or more information please contact: Mandy Garman with TN Housing Development Agency at [email protected]

April is Autism Awareness Month. The RHA of TN would like to share a pre-recorded webinar featuring Lauren Pearcy the Executive Director with the Tennessee Council on Developmental Disabilities in a webinar titled, "Disability Resources for Healthcare Providers and Patients". 

We are continually focused on caring for the well-being of individuals with developmental disabilities. Through advanced research, we will get the help they need by providing resources that will support the health and safety of all the individuals. 

  Click here to view recording 

The Rural Health Association of Tennessee is excited to announce our webinar on "Health Equity, Poverty, and Rural Resilience" by Michael Meit, who serves as Director of Research and Programs for the East Tennessee State University Center for Rural Health Research.

This session will highlight what is known about rural health inequities and how they vary by rural geographic region, describe health inequities in Tennessee, present measures of rural prosperity that can help us to understand factors of risk and resilience in our rural communities, and highlight rural strengths and assets that can be leveraged to improve rural community health and well-being. Join us on March 11, 2022 at 10:00am.

The University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine and The University of Kentucky Healthcare CE Central are hosting a conference titled "Healthcare in Appalachia: Practical Approaches to Addressing the Unique Needs of our Region" in Pigeon Forge on April 28-30, 2022.

Approximately 25.7 million people live in the Appalachian region of the United States (U.S.) Forty-two percent of the region’s population lives in rural areas, compared with only 20% of the nation. This region has historically been plagued with unique healthcare needs and poor health outcomes.

Rural Health Association of Tennessee and it's partners at The Tennessee Justice Center hosts a webinar with the Tennessee Department of Health on COVID-19 Surveillance and Variants; Exploring how to prevent COVID-19, January 13, 2022 at 10:00am-11:00am CST.

The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation considers radon to be a very serious problem in our state. No matter where you live in Tennessee, there is the potential for radon to enter your home. Radon gas has been identified as the second leading cause of lung cancer, second only to cigarette smoking. 

If you would like to learn more about Radon and receive resources to have or share. Please register to attend our webinar by clicking here.

Rural Health Association of Tennessee (RHA) celebrated National Rural Health Day in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, November 18^th, 2021 to honor those who work every day to help keep Tennessee healthy. This year's conference was dedicated to local and state health department officials, providers, and advocates who have served on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic. Missed the event? Copies of presentations are in our Rural Resource Center (login required).

We hope to see you in November!

Early Bird registration has been extended! Register by October 8, 2021 to receive a discounted rate.

To view the conference agenda and register, visit https://www.tnruralhealth.org/annual-conference. Continue reading for our planned safety measures.

Tennessee’s Department of Health’s mission is to protect, promote and improve the health and prosperity of people in Tennessee. This session will provide updates on Tennessee’s COVID response as well as other efforts to improve population health.

Learning Objectives
• Understand the most recent data on COVID spread and the success of various mitigation strategies, particularly in rural areas
• How to support public health efforts through consistent messaging and education
• Discover resources available to providers and public to improve health of Tennesseans

August 31, 2021

Join Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services and our many members who are  raising awareness on how to prevent and respond to overdose.

Inspired by annual community events hosted in Melbourne, Australia, International Overdose Awareness Day was brought to the global stage in 2012 as nations like the United States and Australia were beginning to understand the magnitude of the opioid crisis. Since 2012, IOAD has maintained it’s original purpose to raise awareness, reduce stigma of drug-related death and commemorate those who have been lost to drug overdose.

CareQuest and the National Rural Health Association (NRHA) are sponsoring a pair of Nov. 18th sessions at 
the Rural Health Association of Tennessee's 27th Annual Conference.

The NRHA will lead off that morning with a session from 8:30 - 9:30am EST titled "Rural Health in the United States – Updates from the National Rural Health Association," which will feature NRHA Vice President for Member Services Brock Slabach Sr.

Thanks to a project funded by Health and Human Services Administration (HRSA), we are able to scholarship 11  individuals who meet the below criteria:

• Live in a rural Appalachia community as defined by HRSA.
• Serve on a local prevention coalition.
• Agree to attend a peer meeting at RHA of TN's Annual Conference

 Click here to apply

Or email [email protected] for details.

Click here to view conference details.

The Rural Health Association of Tennessee is hosting a webinar with the Tennessee Department of Health to  provide an update on the Covid-19 pandemic on Sept. 23 from 11 a.m. until noon CDT.

Participants will hear from Dr. Mary-Margaret A. Fill and Jane Yackley, who both serve as epidemiologists with the Tennessee Department of health. Our discussion will aim to summarize recent data trends of Covid-19 transmission in Tennessee. We will also review prevention and mitigation measures for the spread of the virus, and we will discuss the implications of the Delta variant.

Submit an original photo for a chance to be featured at our next Annual conference!

Contest Rules:

1. Rural People – focus of the photo should be on people, not their background surroundings

6th Annual Student, Resident and Faculty Virtual Poster Competition Information 

This virtual research poster competition is a low-cost way for students, residents and faculty to share their research without the costs of producing a “hard-copy” poster.  

Division winners and the overall winner will receive a gift certificate or modest cash award (check).

The US-HAMP (United States Hepatitis Academic Mentorship Program), a program of the Kentucky Rural Health Association would like to invite you to the US-HAMP Summit on July 27, 2021. This will be a virtual event for Key State Leaders.  Please refer to HAMP attachment for agenda/program about US-HAMP.

US-HAMP is a multi-state collaborative learning network to train key state leaders on the implementation of a successful HAMP model in an effort to empower primary care providers in their state to screen, diagnose, evaluate, treat, cure and report hepatitis C outcomes.  Current HAMP best practice will be discussed by state leaders in Kentucky and West Virginia.