Colorado Rural Health Center, The State Office of Rural Health and Rural Health Association, Honors Lawmakers, Outstanding Member Contributions

    AURORA, CO, November 11, 2022 /24-7PressRelease/ -- The Colorado Rural Health Center (CRHC) Recently presented three state legislators and a CRHC member with awards honoring outstanding contributions to healthcare in rural Colorado over the past year. Representative Julie McCluskie, Senator Joann Ginal, and Senator Bob Rankin were all awarded the Rural Health Champion Awards while Julie Moore was presented with the Rural Health Excellence Award.

"The Rural Health Champion awards are given annually by CRHC to recognize state legislators who have gone above and beyond to protect and advance access to quality care through rural Colorado. This year, three state legislators championed policy that will make a real difference in our rural communities." Said CRHC CEO Michelle Mills.

"The Rural Health Excellence Award is a peer nominated award that recognizes a CRHC member who has made a notable contribution to health, healthcare, or a healthcare delivery system in rural Colorado. This year we were honored to recognize Vicki Moore at Delta Health," said CRHC CEO Michelle Mills. "Congratulations to all of the awardees and thank you for all you do to serve rural communities in Colorado."

CRHC recognized Senator Bob Rankin's leadership in sponsoring SB22-200 Rural Provider Stimulus Grant Program, SB22-226 Programs to Support Healthcare Workforce, SB22-172 Colorado Rural Healthcare Workforce Initiative and HB22-1005 Healthcare Preceptors Tax Credit. He has also been adamant to include innovative models such as Remote Patient Monitoring as new healthcare funding and opportunities have rolled out. Additionally, he has been an unwavering advocate for rural Coloradans by always ensuring the rural perspective is at the table in his roles on both the Joint Budget Committee and Appropriations.

Representative Julie McCluskie's leadership in sponsoring HB22-1005 Healthcare Preceptors Tax Credit was a driver for her award win. CRHC could not have continued this impactful workforce incentive without her, and is appreciative of her commitment to extending and expanding the tax credit to all primary care providers in rural. She helped the CRHC policy team navigate the stakeholder and bill drafting process and even secured a coveted top-ten priority status for the legislation. She also found the time to sponsor additional rural health legislation, including SB22-181 Behavioral Healthcare Workforce and SB22-200 Rural Provider Stimulus Grant Program.

Finally, CRHC recognized Senator Joann Ginal for her leadership in sponsoring SB22-200 Rural Provider Stimulus Grant Program, SB22-078 Prior Authorization Exemption Healthcare Providers and HB22-1325 Primary Care Alternative Payment Models. Especially during the amendment phase of SB22-200, this award recognizes her for supporting additional rural and frontier representation on the advisory board and seeking enhanced funding for the program. As the grant program implementation has begun, there is no denying the value of the additional rural and frontier voices on the committee. Lastly, she has been an unwavering advocate for rural Coloradans by always ensuring the rural perspective is at the table in her leadership roles on both the Health & Human Services and Local Government committees.

The three legislators work closely with the Colorado Rural Health Center's internal Policy and Advocacy team to ensure that the voices of rural clinics and hospitals have a seat at the legislative table in Denver. Contact Kelly Erb, Associate Director of Policy and Advocacy at CRHC for more information on CRHC's policy work.

Vickie Moore is Executive Director of Clinic Operations at Delta Health in Delta, CO. She was nominated for the Rural Health Excellence Award by her peers.

In the words of her nominator, Darla Ballard: "Vickie has went above and beyond since the day she started here. She has successfully helped implement three Rural Health Clinics (RHCs) in our Delta Health network. She oversees all the clinic providers and managers. She always has a solution to problems. She is such a good listener and tried to find common ground so everyone involved can be happy. She is also not afraid to say no. She has been such a great colleague to myself and my team. We just finished a survey after being RHC for 2 years and it was great!"

Vickie was able to travel to Colorado Springs and accept her award in person at CRHC's 31st Annual Rural Health Conference, held October 19-21 at the Antlers Hotel.

About The Colorado Rural Health Center
The Colorado Rural Health Center was established in 1991 as Colorado's State Office of Rural Health. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation, CRHC serves dual roles as the State Office of Rural Health and the State Rural Health Association. The organization's mission is to enhance healthcare services in the state by providing information, education, linkages, tools, and energy toward addressing rural health issues. CRHC's vision is to improve healthcare services available in rural communities to ensure that all rural Coloradans have access to comprehensive, affordable, high quality healthcare. For more information visit www.coruralhealth.org, call 303-832-7493, or call toll free 800-851-6782 from rural Colorado.

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