CDC Awards OSU Center For Rural Health $3 Million Grant

The CDC recently awarded the OSU Center for Rural Health a $3 million grant to be used to help address health disparities in rural areas. The funding will be divided into three main areas: scholarships, telemedicine vehicles, and rural health programs.

One of the primary reasons for the focus on rural health is that there simply aren't as many hospitals or physicians in rural areas.

This grant will help fund more scholarships for OSU Center for Health Sciences rural and tribal medical track students and physician assistant students to train them in rural areas and potentially serve out there. The grant will also bring telehealth specialty care services to those rural areas.

"There are no specialty physicians in rural areas. There are few primary care, but there are no specialty so we rely on telehealth to deliver specialty services in rural areas. So we offer through grant funding free or low cost telehealth equipment when needed," Denna Wheeler, executive director for OSU Center for Rural Health said.

The OSU Center for Rural Health also has several projects planned to address some health disparity issues in rural areas such as youth mental health training, using tele-nutrition services in areas that are considered food deserts, water testing and providing filtration solutions if needed, and implementing virtual hotspots to increase broadband access which will also help with telehealth services.

Equally important is getting medical students out into rural areas so they can have a better understanding of the challenges those areas face regarding healthcare.

"In our rural medical track, our third and fourth-year medical students do the majority of their clinical training in rural areas, in these rural and underserved areas. So they are very familiar, they become very familiar with the challenges," Wheeler said.