Nebraska Rural Health Conference Collaborative work efforts and establishing priorities were among the key messages shared at the 1998 Nebraska Rural Health Conference. The conference, held Oct. 1-2 at the Ramada Inn Conference Hotel in Kearney, Neb., drew more than 200 participants. Charles Andrews, M.D., medical director for the Nebraska Health and Human Services System and former chancellor of UNMC, opened the conference by presenting the direction the state system is taking regarding support for rural health-care systems.
Collaboration is the key to creating changes and mending current health systems.
Sessions such as these help us in terms of educating health professionals for work in rural communities. RHEN works to educate students from rural communities in hopes that they will return to those communities to practice in their specialties. By knowing what direction the rural health-care systems are going, groups such as RHEN have the inside track on educating the students to fit the health care needs of rural communities, Jokela said. McGinnis also presented at another session on the second day of the conference. The session provided a detailed model to follow in improving the community health status and health system development.