This week on Rural Health Leadership Radio we’re talking about respiratory and cardiac care. We’re having that conversation with Michelle Collins, Registered Respiratory Therapist at Lincoln Health, Franklin Memorial Hospital, and Central Maine Medical Center.
“I have hope because there has been so much work that has been done over the last couple of years that is still very exciting.”
~Michelle Collins
Michelle has worked in various aspects of healthcare from administrative to clinical for 30 years, with sixteen of those years being spent specializing in cardiac and respiratory care. She has been able to work with a large pulmonary practice and currently works at a critical access hospital, a rural trauma and cardiac center. Michelle also provides teaching and training in cardiac and pulmonary care throughout the state at businesses, hospitals, nursing facilities, educational institutions, and at health fairs for employees, patients, and aspiring and active clinical staff.
“Asking the right questions before we set patients up with medications and treatment plans for respiratory is huge.”
~Michelle Collins
In her spare time, Michelle enjoys volunteering for many organizations. She is the President of the Maine Society for Respiratory Care, a Member of the American Association for Respiratory Care Political Action Contact Team, a Member of the Maine Health Allies, The COPD and Alpha 1 Advocacy Captain and Ambassador of Maine, a Harmonicas 4 Health Instructor, teaching Better Breathers Group, participant in the COPD National Action Plan Task Force and a Rural Health Advisory Team.
This week on Rural Health Leadership Radio we’re talking about community-based pulmonary rehabilitation. We’re having the conversation with Dr. Dan Doyle, Senior Physician in Family Medicine at New River Health Association, Physician and Consultant at Cabin Creek Health Center, and Medical Director at New River Breathing Center, a Black Lung Clinic.
Dr. Doyle grew up in Northern Indiana and attended the University of Notre Dame as a Liberal Arts major. After deciding to go to medical school in 1968, he went to Harvard Medical School, took two years off in the middle to work as a community organizer and health educator in an inner-city neighborhood of Boston, and finished medical school in 1974. In October of 1977, Dr. Doyle came to New River Health and has been there for 39 years!
“Q”
~Dr. Dan Doyle
Dr. Doyle has also worked as the Medical Director of the Grace Anne Dorney Pulmonary Rehabilitation project of West Virginia since 2013, a collaborative effort of Cabin Creek Health System FQHC, New River Health Association FQHC, Southern West Virginia Health System FQHC, West Caldwell County FQHC in North Carolina, Boone Memorial Hospital, and Jackson General Hospital. Through this collaboration, community-based pulmonary rehabilitation services have been offered and provided.
This week on Rural Health Leadership Radio we’re talking about COPD prevalence and policy in rural areas. We’re having that conversation with Paul Moore, Senior Health Policy Advisor at the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy.
"This right here is an opportunity to both bend that healthcare cost curve and while we’re doing that, improve the health and reduce the burden on millions of folks suffering or soon to suffer with COPD."
~Paul Moore
Paul brings a lifetime of experience related to rural healthcare from both his family heritage and more than forty years in community and hospital pharmacy. His experience reaches beyond pharmacy as he has also been the CEO of a County Healthcare Authority, consisting of one of the nation’s earliest Critical Access Hospitals, EMS, a physician clinic and a Home Health Agency.
"I’m optimistic that in a payment environment where providers are incentivized to provide what will make the most difference, we’ll see more investment, improving prevention and treatments."
~Paul Moore
Paul is also a Past President of the National Rural Health Association and currently serves as the Executive Secretary for the National Advisory Committee for Rural Health and Human Services. He has seen the progression of COPD first-hand and as a pharmacist for over 30 years and hopes to garner national attention for the disease.
This week on Rural Health Leadership Radio we’re talking about COPD advocacy and activism. We’re having that conversation with Grace Anne Dorney Koppel, President of the Dorney-Koppel Foundation.
“Anyone who breathes actually can get COPD because we have this very large number, 25% of people who have never smoked a cigarette.”
~Grace Anne Dorney Koppel
Grace Anne is an educator, a behavioral scientist, and an attorney. She was diagnosed with very severe COPD in 2001 which led her on the path to COPD patient advocacy and activism. Since 2006, she has devoted her training, knowledge and professional life to achieving better outcomes and quality of life for the 30 million Americans and hundreds of million worldwide who have COPD. Grace Anne is a graduate of Fordham University (BA), Stanford University (MA), and Georgetown University School of Law (JD). She has also been awarded a PhD honoris causa from Fordham University, one of her alma maters.
“What gives me hope is that it’s treatable. We don’t have the cure today, but we do have treatments and one day, I do believe we will have a cure if enough of us speak out loudly.”
~Grace Anne Dorney Koppel
Grace Anne has been President of the Dorney-Koppel Foundation since 1999.One of the missions of the Dorney-Koppel Foundation is to provide start-up funding and strategic guidance for pulmonary rehabilitation centers in areas of high COPD prevalence, primarily in rural America, that have no access to pulmonary rehabilitation. Twelve Grace Anne Dorney Pulmonary Rehabilitation Clinics are now in operation in Kentucky, North Carolina, West Virginia, Louisiana and Maryland. Grace Anne also currently serves on the National Institute of Health’s NHLBI (National Heart, Lung, Blood Institute) Advisory Council.