Rural Spotlight

Coming Soon: National Health Service Corps Part-Time Service Option

The National Health Service Corps (NHSC), through scholarship and loan repayment programs, helps Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs) in the U.S. get the medical, dental and mental health providers they need to meet their tremendous need for health care.  These programs are designed to improve the supply of physicians, dentists, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and certified nurse-midwives in both rural and urban underserved areas. 

NHSC is an important source of primary care for rural areas, as approximately 60% of the NHSC’s placements are in rural areas and many Scholar or Loan Repayors who begin working in rural areas choose to continue their careers in those areas.  Up until now, all of the NHSC Scholars and Loan Repayors were required to work full-time in an underserved community and 32 of the minimum 40-hour work week must be spent providing direct clinical services in the community.

Starting in March 2010, clinicians working part-time (20 to 39 hours each week, at least 45 weeks each year) at NHSC-approved facilities will be eligible to apply to the National Health Service Corps demonstration program for the Part-time Loan Repayment.

The criteria for the Part-Time Demonstration Program will be comparable to the current NHSC Loan Repayment Program. Below are some specifics about the program:

• Four year service commitment for $50,000
• Potential for additional years of support - 2 year service contract
• Application Period open for 30 days
• 400 awards anticipated
• Same eligible disciplines as full-time Loan Repayment Program (see Application Information Bulletin: Eligibility)

For more information please visit the NHSC Web site.

HVP (Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein) Recall

Basic Food Flavors of Las Vegas, Nevada has recalled all of the hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP) it has produced in powder and paste form it has produced since September 17, 2009, due to potential contamination with salmonella.  HVP goes into many other products such as dips, dressings, sauces, gravies, chili, soups, seasonings, hot dogs, seasoned snack foods, and seasoning mixes to enhance flavor and texture of processed foods.  For some processed foods that contain HVP, they also receive a thorough cook, and thus an adequate “kill step” for salmonella.  For some foods such as dip mixes containing HVP, or seasoned snack foods containing HVP, there is no kill step, and thus a potential for consumers being exposed to salmonella in the food.  Various companies have begun issuing recalls because their products contain HVP produced by Basic Food Flavors, Inc.  FDA is also recommending recalls of certain products containing HVP that might be eaten by consumers without any processing or cooking steps to address the potential risk. There is the potential for this to continue for an extended time due to the vast number of products containing HVP.  There is a searchable database of recalled products on FDA’s website at www.fda.gov  which will be updated as new products are added to the recall.  We suggest that agencies review the list of products a couple of times a week and to be aware of the potential for illness related to consumption of products with HVP produced by Basic Food Flavors, Inc.  At this time there are no reported illnesses associated with this contamination. 

If the situation changes dramatically, and DHSS is aware of illnesses associated with products containing contaminated HVP and distributed in Missouri, we will issue a recall about these specific products and the most complete distribution information that we receive. 

Please visit our websites for further information regarding food safety.
http://www.dhss.mo.gov/
http://www.dhss.mo.gov/EHOG_manual/
http://www.dhss.mo.gov/EnvironmentalChildCare/
http://www.dhss.mo.gov/FoodSafety/
http://www.dhss.mo.gov/Lodging/
http://www.dhss.mo.gov/Lead/
http://www.dhss.mo.gov/Onsite/

K2 Synthetic Marijuana Use Among Teenagers and Young Adults in Missouri

Updated information is available on the synthetic marijuana product, K2. Information includes signs and symptoms that present with the use of K2, and recommendations by the Missouri Regional Poison Center.

Click here for more information.

Handbook for Rural Health Care Ethics

A Practical Guide for Professionals

The Handbook For Rural Health Care Ethics uses a case-based approach to analyzing, solving and anticipating health care ethics dilemmas. The Handbook is authored by physicians, nurses, health-care ethicists, and hospital administrators who all had scholarship or expertise in rural ethics, and was funded by a grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Library of Medicine. Read more by clicking here.

Rural Nursing Residency Programs Becoming Available

Idaho State University is just one location that is now offering a rural nurse residency program. The program is part of an effort to improve competency and retention among nurses. Learn more about the program by clicking here.

Meeting Demand in a Recession

PubHub has made the following report available:

The Economic Recession: Early Impacts on Health Care Safety Net Providers

Examines how the recession and state and local budget cuts affected safety-net clinics' capacity to meet demand in five communities, the extent to which federal stimulus funds mitigated the impact, strategies for sustainability, and implications.

How to Stretch Without Breaking

Louis Wenzlow has written a piece on the Critical Access Hospitals and "meaningful" HIT adoption. He says effort needs to be made to support the goal of reducing healthcare costs and increasing healthcare quality. Find the article by clicking here. 

Rural Kids Participating in Dangerous Game

New research suggests kids in rural settings are more likely to play a dangerous choking game that has become popular in recent years.  Around 8,000 eighth graders in Oregon were surveyed for the study.  More than a quarter of them admitted to participating in the act of choking in order to get a feeling of euphoria. 

Read more about the research here. 

NRHA Announces New Corporate Partnership

The National Rural Health Association has released the following statement about CTL Consulting, LLC:

In our continued efforts to bring value to the NRHA membership, CTL Consulting, LLC has become a new Corporate Partner to provide your organization both permanent recruitment and interim leadership solutions.  CTL Consulting, LLC can assist you in addressing leadership and professional-level vacancies.  Based in the Midwest, but working nationally, CTL Consulting, LLC has an exhaustive history of working with rural and critical access hospitals.  Our previous successes with NRHA members displays that we understand the needs of the membership.

CTL Consulting, LLC brings to the NRHA membership the longest guarantee of any search firm in the industry for our permanent placements.  Our search guarantee coupled with our discounted fee schedule and interim services division make CTL Consulting, LLC the perfect choice for the NRHA partnership.  Pleases let us know if we can help you fill Administrator, Director-level, Managers, as well as Nurse Practitioner/Physician Assistants.

Learn more here.

Health Literacy Missouri (HLM) Launches Website

On December 15 in St. Louis, the Health Literacy Missouri (HLM) opened for business; its the first statewide center devoted solely to increasing health literacy.  The non-profit private corporation will operate on a $2.4 million annual budget funded by the Missouri Foundation for Health (MFFH).  The mission of HLM is to improve the health of all Missourians and become a national leader in health literacy.  For complete details, click here.