National Rural Health Day is tomorrow; join a Twitter chat

As part of National Rural Health Day on Thursday, the Rural Health Information Hub will host a Twitter chat about access to health care in rural areas. The chat will begin at noon Eastern Time and will last about an hour. Find and participate in the chat with the hashtag #RuralHealthChat.

Many rural residents face barriers to care, such as distance, expense, health insurance status, provider shortages, health literacy and more. The chat will discuss specific barriers to access and possible solutions as well as recognize rural communities that have addressed these barriers. The National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health (@NOSORH) will co-host the chat, which will feature the following special guests:

• Donna Newchurch, executive director, Louisiana Rural Ambulance Alliance (@LAAmbulance)
• Allen J. Smart, principal at PhilanthropywoRx and project director at Campbell University (@allensmart6)
• John Supplitt, senior direction at American Hospital Association, Section for Small or Rural Hospitals (@jsupplitt)
• Julie K. Wood, senior vice president of health at the American Academy of Family Physicians (@JulieKWoodMD)
• A representative of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (@BreatheBetter)
• A representative of the National Rural Health Association (@NRHA_Advocacy)
• A representative of the NORC Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis (@WalshCenter),  a survey research center at the University of Chicago.

Find out more about National Rural Health Day here.