This week on Rural Health Leadership Radio we are having a conversation about an educational opportunity for nurses and the perils of working in agriculture. We’re having that conversation with Cheri Fast and Charlotte Halverson, who are Registered Nurses with AgriSafe.
“The potential for danger is so great in farming and ranching and is so overlooked”
-Cheri Fast, RN
Cheri has a diverse healthcare background. She played a pivotal role in the development of a Home Health Infection Prevention Toolkit and has served on the Home Health Quality Improvement (HHQI) technical expert panel to provide feedback on the Recognizing and Reporting Changes in Skin Conditions Home Health Aide Course developed in response to the Centers for Medicaid & Medicare (CMS) Conditions of Participation.
She serves as a certified intensive case manager and has worked with patients, families, and physicians to coordinate care and teach on disease processes along with other quality improvement efforts. As the education coordinator, she implemented a wound department and coordinated a variety of patient and staff education programs.
Beyond her Bachelors of Science in Nursing, she is a Wound, Ostomy and Continence Nurse (WOCN), certified case manager and master trainer for Better Choices, Better Health Chronic Disease Self-Management, and Diabetes Self-Management programs. She most recently completed the AgriSafe Nurse Scholar program and has been selected to represent South Dakota as an Agrisafe Total Farmer Health Coach.
Charlotte serves as the Clinical Director for AgriSafe. Prior to this role, she worked for several years in hospital acute care settings and community education. During those years, Charlotte developed and managed a Rural Outreach Health service and a Parish Health Ministry department serving nine counties in northeast Iowa. A charter graduate of the University of IA agricultural occupational medicine course, she served as the agricultural occupational health services manager for the National Education Center for Agricultural Safety. Her primary role with AgriSafe involves development and dissemination of educational programs for health care professionals, agricultural businesses, and educators.
To learn more about the AgriSafe Nurse Scholar Program, use this link: https://learning.
This week on Rural Health Leadership Radio we are having a conversation with Dr. Hannah Wenger, a clinical care specialist on the Rosebud Indian Reservation, and faculty member at Massachusetts General Hospital. Hannah is a physician who is passionate about providing culturally relevant care to the residents of the community she serves.
“What does allopathic medicine have to do with a traditional ceremony like a sweat lodge? I would argue it has a lot to do with it”
~ Hannah Wenger M.D.
Hannah Wenger, MD, is a general internist and faculty member at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) having just completed MGH’s Fellowship Program in Rural Health Leadership. She obtained her undergraduate degree in biology at the University of Notre Dame and her medical degree at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine. She then completed an internal medicine residency and a clinical medical ethics fellowship at the University of Chicago. As a rural health fellow at MGH, Dr. Wenger currently provides clinical care to the Sicangu Lakota Oyate on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota. Her interests include Two Spirit and LGBTQ health, hepatitis C, and clinical ethics.
This week on Rural Health Leadership Radio we are talking about Caregiver Heroes and the impact of kindness. We are having that conversation with Brian Lee, the creator of Caregiver Heroes.
“Our vision for healthcare is kindness care everywhere”
~ Brian Lee
Brian has been a professional speaker for over 36 years. He has authored 8 books, including Skillful Communication with Physicians and Rural Hospital Renaissance.
He is the CEO and Founder of Custom Learning Systems. Their mission is creating a 5-star culture of healing kindness. He also founded the HealthCare Service Excellence Conference which started 20 years ago.
Brian lives in Calgary, Canada. He has traveled over 5 million miles, while speaking at events over 3,800+ times.
This week on Rural Health Leadership Radio we are talking about how health care is a core function of the community and how it defines that community. We are having that conversation with Dr. John Cullen, Board Chair of the American Academy of Family Physicians, and a full scope family physician practicing in the frontier community of Valdez, Alaska.
“Health care is really one of those core functions of a community. That’s sort of what defines what a community is.”
~ Dr. John Cullen, MD
John Cullen, M.D. is part of a four-physician private clinic, the Valdez Medical Clinic, that he has been a part of since 1994.
A graduate of University of Arizona School of Medicine, he moved to Valdez, Alaska immediately after family medicine residency in Modesto, California. His family was drawn to the quality of life in Alaska and it proved to be an exciting place to practice medicine and raise his daughter and two sons. Serving as Chief of Staff for over twenty years at the Valdez Medical Center, he oversaw the expansion of the hospital. In addition, he has served as the EMS director in Valdez for 23 years.
His passion for skiing and wilderness safety landed him positions as physician for the World Extreme Skiing Championships and the King of the Hill Snowboarding championships in Valdez where he was responsible for setting up emergency services on the side of a mountain.
Alaska Academy activities include terms as Chapter President, and nineteen years as COG delegate or alternate. Honors include Alaskan Family Physician of the Year in 2008, runner up for the National AAFP Physician of the Year, and 2011 American Red Cross Hero for saving a mother and baby in an icy river car crash.
Experience serving on the National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services for HRSA, where he toured the country evaluating critical access hospitals and rural health systems, as well as serving on the Alaska State Medical Board, allowed him to help shape health care policy as the ACA was developed. He enjoys speaking and advocating for patients on the national stage almost as much as he enjoys his adventurous life with his wife Michelle over the past 30 years.