Its time to register for the 2020 National Rural EMS & Care Conference. The conference will take place in Columbus, Ohio, on April 22-23. The two-day agenda includes a panel about the Flex Supplemental funds for EMS, a session on ET3, and insights into what EMS will look like in 2040. Prior to the conference, be sure to join the half-day EMS Grant Writing 101 Workshop on April 21! Click here for more information.

Rural Health Package Being Considered by Congress

With the Senators preoccupied with impeachment hearings during January, Congressional staff continue to work on advancing health care legislation in 2020. In May, Congress will need to reauthorize or extend a number of health care programs whose funding expires on May 22, 2020. The May 22 deadline creates a potential vehicle for Congress to pass broader health care legislation, including surprise billing, drug pricing and rural health. While optimism abounds off the Hill for a broad rural health care package, look for a narrower, more targeted package being unveiled by the Senate Finance Committee. The cost of the legislative proposal will play a factor with the more expensive bills most likely not being included. Read More

The 2020 NRHA Policy Institute is coming up on February 11-13. NOSORH has created a Policy Sheet to assist you on your Hill visits. This year's "ask" is simple - thank them for their continued support of vital rural programs such as SORH, Flex, and SHIP. Also, thank them for the increase of appropriations to $12.5 million.

Please note that the NOSORH Members/SOC Meeting will take place on Monday, February 10 at 6:45pm in the Gallery IV room. Click here for the agenda.

In case you missed it, the recording from last month's webinar Preparing to Engage with Legislators and Policymakers is available on the NOSORH website.

The 2020 regional meetings are just around the corner and NOSORH is ready to start planning! All of the sites and locations are secured and the planning committees are forming. If you are interested in volunteering for your region’s meeting planning committee, please contact Matt Strycker.

Click on a region below for draft agendas and hotel information. Meeting registrations will open later this week, so stay tuned!

Region A

Region B

Region D

The new version of TruServe is officially available! There is no cost to upgrade to the new version, which includes many additional features.  View the flyer  highlighting the differences between the Core and Enhanced versions, and watch a  quick video  showing the new features. Please contact  Mark Barclay  to schedule an upgrade to the new system.

We know it's important to get those rural counts, but what can you do?

Rural healthcare providers and stakeholders play an important role in assuring a complete count of the population in rural communities during the 2020 Census. The NOSORH Program Analysis & Response Committee developed a  new issue brief  for State Offices of Rural Health, rural healthcare providers and other rural health stakeholders on how they can help support 'hard-to-count' populations.

Last week, the Rural Community Action Guide was released to assist rural community leaders in building an effective local response to the crisis of addiction. The  Guide  includes background information, recommended action steps, and promising practices for a range of issues related to drug addiction in rural America.