HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 10
(By Mr. Speaker, (Mr. Thompson) Delegates Boggs,
DeLong, Perdue and White)
Recognizing January 28, 2008 as "Rural Health Day".
Whereas, A little over 15 years ago, the West Virginia
Legislature took an extraordinary step when it passed the Rural
Health Initiative Act and invested in the state's future by funding
community based health professions training through the development
of the West Virginia Rural Health Education Partnerships (WVRHEP);
and
Whereas, In 2001, a federal Area Health Education Center (AHEC)
grant was submitted and the state was awarded funding to create five
regional centers to address health professions education and
training, in collaboration with the WVRHEP Program; and
Whereas, This collaborative effort includes a partnership of
higher education, community volunteers, campus and field faculty,
state level agency administrators, lead agency personnel WVRHEP and
AHEC staff, students and residents, and legislators; and
Whereas, Through this partnership, students have made an average
of 128,000 contacts with rural West Virginians annually to provide
health promotion and prevention services for a total of 1,155,918
contacts since 1999; and
Whereas, Since 1999, there has been a 200% cumulative increase or a 14.7% annual rate of increase in the number of WVRHEP/AHEC
physician-graduates practicing in rural West Virginia; and
Whereas, Since 1995, the state has eliminated ten counties with
whole-county health profession shortage area status from the federal
list of shortage areas, eight of which are currently benefitting
from the practices of twenty-six physicians who are graduates of the
WVRHEP/AHEC program; and
Whereas, The WVRHEP/AHEC partnership serves as a statewide rural
health infrastructure platform for other initiatives to reach and
serve more rural people; therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Delegates:
That the members of this body commend the efforts of the West
Virginia Rural Health Education Partnerships Program/Area Health
Education Centers Program and recognize January 28, 2008, as "Rural
Health Day", and pledge commitment to policies and programs which
will support community based training and education, and promote
recruitment and retention of high quality health professionals in
rural areas of our state; and, be it
Further Resolved, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates
prepare a certified copy of this resolution for the West Virginia
Rural Health Education Partnerships Program/Area Health Education
Centers Program.
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