Sydney Grant, who recently became the co-host of Rural Health Leadership Radio, takes the other side of the mic in this week’s interview! Once an intern for RHLR, and now a co-host, Sydney tells us about her experiences and journey in rural healthcare leadership and how NRHA’s Rural Hospital Certification Programs are making an impact.
“The more people we’re able to connect, especially with rural hospitals – sharing knowledge, perspectives, best practices…it’s only going to get better from here.”
~Sydney Grant, MHA
Sydney Grant is the Director of Programming for NRHA’s Rural Hospital Certification Programs. She graduated from Florida State University in 2018 with a Bachelor of Science and graduated with her Master’s in Healthcare Administration from the University of South Florida in 2020. Sydney was an intern with Rural Health Leadership Radio in 2019 and is now a co-host as well as serving as the Communication Director for her local ACHE Chapter.
To learn more about the Certification Programs, visit www.crhleadership.com
Recruiting and retaining providers is a common topic among rural health leaders. Unfortunately, so is physician burnout. Have you ever wondered if there was a connection between the use of electronic health records and physician burnout in rural America? As it turns out, there is. And that is what we’re talking about with Dr. Danielle Terry, Director of Behavioral Science at Guthrie Family Medicine.
“We might want to think about how we integrate our care in the world and really, in the United States, and how we integrate behavioral health because we are going to have a problem.”
~Danielle Terry, Ph.D.
Dr. Danielle Terry graduated from Syracuse University with a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology in2012. She is a Board-Certified Health Psychologist and has worked as the Director of Behavioral Science at the Guthrie Family Medicine Residency in Sayre, Pennsylvania since 2017. She developed the clinical psychology training internship at the Bath VA Medical Center and served as the Program Director for several years while concurrently working as an integrated primary care psychologist in rural medicine.
She has special interests in smoking cessation, anxiety disorders, home-based primary care, and resident wellness. She is a recent co-author and editor of the book, Providing Home Care for Older Adults: A Professional Guide for Mental Health Practitioners. Her recent publications relate to technology use among physicians, impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the intersection of technology use and well-being in rural medical providers.
Rural healthcare faces many challenges, which become even more complicated when rare disorders are involved. March is Bleeding Disorders Awareness Month, and Shellye Horowitz, Associate Director of Education for the Hemophilia Federation of America, has experienced first-hand the obstacles that a patient with a rare bleeding disorder faces while living in a rural area.
“We need to make sure that the knowledge and information base is wide enough in our rural communities that we can protect patients with rare bleeding disorders…”
~Shellye Horowitz
Shellye Horowitz is the Associate Director of Education at the Hemophilia Federation of America. Shellye has strong ties to the bleeding disorders community with six traceable generations of hemophilia A in her family, affecting both men and women. Shellye has given presentations and served on numerous committees focused on increasing awareness of diagnosis and treatment for women's disorders. Additionally, Shellye wrote a column for Hemophilia News Today that addressed issues regarding women and bleeding disorders called "The Forgotten Factor". Shellye’s hobbies include International Folk Dance, ham radio, geocaching, knitting, hiking, home improvement projects, and walking her dog Hope on the beach.
To learn more, check out www.hemophelia.org
Many patients living in rural America encounter unique boundaries to receiving the critical healthcare they need, particularly when faced with a rare disorder or disease. March is Bleeding Disorders Awareness Month, and Dr. Len Valentino is working to educate and advocate for upwards of 10,000 rural Americans living with a rare blood or bleeding disorder.
“Understanding rural health is critical to serving the population of the US.”
~Dr. Len Valentino
As CEO of the National Hemophilia Foundation, Dr. Valentino brings more than 35 years of clinical and research experience related to inheritable blood disorders to the organization. Prior to his most recent work with Spark Therapeutics, a biotech startup, he founded and led the Hemophilia and Thrombophilia Center at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, where he successfully balanced a $10 million budget to support research grants, research, and clinical teams–keeping the patient and their families as his core focus. He earned his undergraduate and medical degrees from Creighton University and Creighton University School of Medicine.
He then completed the University of Illinois at Chicago’s Pediatric Medicine Residency before completing a fellowship in pediatric hematology-oncology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. Dr. Valentino remains an active member of multiple professional organizations, including The American Society of Hematology; International Society of Thrombosis and Hemostasis; Medical Affairs Professional Society; and The Hemophilia and Thrombosis Research Society
To learn more, check out www.hemophelia.org
The needs in a rural community can sometimes be overwhelming, from transportation needs to medical care, dental care, and more. Sabrina Blue’s heart has always been rural because she is a country girl at heart. Her mission is to look at the deficit of the resources in rural Tennessee and figure out how to deliver holistic healthcare to the residents of rural West Tennessee.
“Our mission is to build stronger communities and improve health outcomes for West Tennessee families.’
~Sabrina Blue
Sabrina Blue is the Founder and CEO of Helping Hands of Middle and West Tennessee (HHT). The mission of HHT is to build stronger communities and help improve health outcomes for West Tennessee families. HHT provides dental, medical, and medical insurance assistance to families earning no more than 200 percent of the federal poverty level. Blue is an Associate Pastor with the Historic First Baptist Church in Jackson, Tennessee.
She had earned over 30 years of corporate management, including sales and marketing strategic planning, for top Fortune 500 companies. Blue had developed and launched businesses such as the first 24-hour childcare center located in Charleston, South Carolina. Blue serves as a board member in nonprofit organizations within her community in the West Tennessee area. Blue currently serves her community in the following areas:
Blue enjoys providing coaching and mentoring services by helping professionals and youths to develop skills in management, sales, marketing, and staffing coaching. She has studied at Trident Technical College, College of Charleston, and the University of Colorado.