This week we celebrate National Rural Health Day by having a conversation with the person who invented it! Karen Madden is the Director of the Charles D. Cook Office of Rural Health (ORH) within the New York State Department of Health.
“National Rural Health Day began as a way to recognize and celebrate individuals and teams who give their best selves in the name of rural health. We wanted to focus on all of the very good things about rural communities on National Rural Health Day and all of that turned into the Power of Rural Movement because it’s not really about just one day.”
Karen currently serves on the Board of the National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health. She also has also served on the National Advisory Committee for Rural Health and Human Services and the National Rural Health Association Board of Trustees. Karen is a proud alumnus of the State University of New York and holds a Master of Arts in Public Policy from the University at Albany’s Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the Oswego State.