C E N TE R FOR RURAL HE ALTH
YOUR FIR S T S T OP F OR
RURAL HEALTH INFORMATION The UND Center for Rural Health’s RHIhub becomes a national go-to for rural health information.
RHIhub staff (left to right) Allee Mead, Matt Bruflodt, Kim Dickman, and Sue Rundquist celebrate 10,000 subscribers to their “RHIhub This Week” email newsletter.
For nearly two decades, a variety of rural stakeholders, including
Funded through the Health Resource and Services Administration’s
health care providers, local governments, public health units, rural
(HRSA) Federal Office of Rural Health Policy, RHIhub was recently
advocates, and state and national organizations, have been getting
approved for a new grant cycle, with $15 million being allocated to
the help, resources, and guidance they have been searching for
the nationwide resource center. This funding will allow RHIhub to
from the Rural Health Information Hub (RHIhub), located at the
continue its work as a national clearinghouse on rural health issues
Center for Rural Health (CRH) within the University of North Dakota
for the next five years.
School of Medicine & Health Sciences. Some of the most searched and viewed items in recent days include the many online toolkits, topic guides on rural health care access and rural health care facilities, funding opportunities, the Am I Rural? tool, and, of course, COVID-19 resources. “Our goal is helping people find information and opportunities,” said Kristine Sande, associate director of CRH and program director of RHIhub. “People working in rural hospitals and clinics are trying to improve the health of the community in various ways, and they wear a lot of different hats. Often, they do not have the resources of an urban facility, such as a grant writer. We can help them find information and opportunities to make it easier for them to do their jobs and improve their services and ultimately improve the health of the community.”
“We have a lot of rural health expertise in North Dakota,” said Sande, “and we are delighted that we can share that expertise with the entire nation.” The program serves rural communities and other rural stakeholders, helping them access the full range of available programs, funding, and research that can enable them to provide quality health care and improve the population health of rural residents. Serving Rural Communities There are three main ways rural communities can benefit from the resources and services of RHIhub. The website offers extensive information, publications, model programs, innovations, funding sources, reports, data visualizations, and toolkits. Plus, it’s updated daily. RHIhub This Week, a weekly email newsletter, along with customized email alerts and social media updates, highlight new
“We . . . make it easier for them to do their jobs and improve their services and ultimately improve the health of the community.” 22
KRISTINE SANDE North Dakota Medicine Fall 2020
resources and opportunities for rural providers. People can also contact RHIhub for assistance with finding information, funding opportunities, and experts. In the past year, the RHIhub website was visited more than 2.4 million times, and staff provided customized assistance to nearly 800 rural stakeholders. RHIhub works to provide information and support on important and emerging rural issues, adding information in recent years on the opioid crisis in rural communities and farmers’ mental health. Since the emergence of COVID-19, RHIhub has been active in helping people at the local level find information related to the pandemic, along with continuing to facilitate the sharing of innovations, best practices, and opportunities.
