January, 2012

Message from the President.......

A New Year - and New Challenges

Nancy B. Dumont

My crystal ball is clouded over, as I imagine yours is too.

But in looking ahead to what 2012 will bring, you can be assured that the RoundTable will host two major conferences of inestimable value to our members. If you're already plotting important dates in your personal and organizational calendar, these listings are "must attends": The 7th Rural Oral Health Conference will take place on Friday, Sept. 7, 2012 in Westford, MA and our 15th Annual Symposium, with the theme of behavioral/telehealth, is set for Oct 25-26 in Portland, Maine. Planning committees are already at work lining up speakers to headline these events; stay tuned to this newsletter for event updates. The RoundTable now enjoys a reputation for building conferences around timely themes of keen interest (witness the rave reviews of our 2011 Symposium "Healthy Aging in Rural New England Places") and 2012 will be no exception. If you are interested in serving on either or both of these committees that meet monthly via conference call, please contact Marion Pawlek.

Looking at the year just ended, we expanded our scope considerably through the VISTA/Advocacy project. As recipients of a Cox Foundation grant, we were able to engage six VISTA volunteers, one for each of the states, to initiate a variety of advocacy efforts designed to enhance the RoundTable's effectiveness in improving access to rural health. The volunteers - all recent college graduates with a variety of interests and skills - are assigned to work sites in the states, either to the State Office of Rural Health or to other rural health organizations. As a "pioneer" group they have already made their mark in a number of arenas, including:

• bringing their talents to the celebration of the first annual National Rural Health Day, on Nov. 17 in CT, MA, ME, NH and RI;
• working to help us improve our social media and communication abilities, through the development of a blog, updating our web site, and creation of a video focusing on rural health; and
• in the policy realm, compiling a state-by-state list of legislative contacts that will be very helpful to us as we tackle upcoming legislation impacting rural health.

Speaking of advocacy, the RoundTable will be well represented at the upcoming NRHA Rural Health Policy Institute, scheduled for January 30 - February 1 in Washington, DC. Thanks to generous scholarship support from JSI in Bow, NH, our cadre of RoundTable staff and board members will include two of our VISTA volunteers who will accompany us as we take in presentations from key congressional staffers and visit Senate and Congressional offices. Our participation in the Rural Health Policy Institute is particularly important to us in this election year, as it offers us the opportunity to be on the alert for developments that may impact healthcare in rural communities.

In a spirit of optimism, allow me to conclude with a quote from the poet Rainer Maria Rilke:

"Now let us welcome the new year,
full of things that have never been"

/s/ Nancy B. DuMont

Happenings Around New England

Good news for our NE states! The highly-regarded America's Health Rankings® - 2011 Edition shows Vermont at the top of the list of healthiest states again this year. The state has risen in the rankings for the last 13 years from a ranking of 17th in 1997 and 1998. New Hampshire is ranked #2, an improvement from ranking third last year. New Hampshire has ranked in the top 10 states every year of the index. Connecticut is #3, followed by Hawaii and Massachusetts in the 5th spot. Maine is #8 in the overall health rankings, with Rhode Island in the #10 position. Disappointingly, the report says the nation's health is stagnating. Troubling increases in obesity, diabetes, and children in poverty are offsetting modest improvements in smoking cessation, preventable hospitalizations, and cardiovascular deaths.
Read the full report.

In New Hampshire, the Mascoma Valley Health Initiative (MHVI), Canaan, has received a grant of nearly $10,000 for its school oral health project. MVHI, in partnership with Alice Peck Day Memorial Hospital (APD), Lebanon, was awarded a Healthy People 2020 Community Innovations Project Grant to provide dental services, community outreach, and oral health education in Mascoma Valley schools. Upper Valley residents who participated in MVHI's 2010-2011 community needs assessment process identified oral health care as one of their top priority health needs.
Read more about the project.

In Connecticut, RoundTable Board member Dr. Margaret Smith, DMD, is all smiles these days as Generations Family Health Center, where she is Chief Dental Officer, has recently relocated its Willimantic Medical, Dental, Behavioral Health and Administrative Offices to a new state of the art "green building" at:

40 Mansfield Avenue
Willimantic, Connecticut 06226

In Western Massachusetts, Community Health Programs (CHP), and Lee Family Practice, Lee, MA, merged on January 3 in order to better serve the healthcare needs of Southern Berkshire County residents.

Bryan Ayars, CHP CEO (and former RoundTable president) said he expects the transition to be seamless; no changes in personnel are anticipated and while current patients of Lee Family Practice will become patients of CHP, all patients will maintain their current relationship with their practitioner. CHP, a Federally Qualified Health Center serving all of Berkshire County, now cares for more than 13,000 county residents. The staff at Lee Family Practice has been providing family medical care in Lee for more than 25 years, serving as Primary Care Providers for more than 5000 residents of Berkshire County.

What's Happening with the CTGs?

As reported earlier, three of our NE states - MA, ME, and VT - recently received Community Trransformation Grants from the Centers for Disease Control to promote healthy lifestyles in their communities. All grantees will address the following priority areas:

• tobacco-free living;
• active living and healthy eating; and
• evidence-based quality clinical and other preventive services, specifically prevention and control of high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

Implementation grantees may also choose to address additional areas of disease prevention and health promotion, including social and emotional wellness (such as facilitating early identification of mental health needs and access to quality services, especially for people with chronic conditions), and healthy and safe physical environments.

From Maine, RoundTable Board member Charles Dwyer reports that Dawn Littlefield has been named Statewide Coordinator for the project. Memoranda of Agreement (MOAs) within each of the eight public health districts have been secured and contracts are in process. Districts are inventorying what is going on with various activities that will impact the objectives of the grant and this information will help determine what each district's priority activities will be. As Mid-Coast District Public Health Liaison, Charles is involved in the grant and will provide more detail as the project moves forward. Maine's grant totaled $1.3 million.

Please send your news to Dot Bergin – dobergin@gmail.com or 781-275-7071.

Thanks,