YOUR SAY: Celebrating the 'can do' spirit of our rural communities

Nov. 19 was National Rural Health Day and an opportunity to celebrate the "can do" spirit of our rural communities. On this day, we honored the unselfish, community-minded determination of our rural health care providers. This day is also an opportunity to focus on these communities and the unique challenges they face — finding ways to take care of their own, dealing with hospital and clinic closures, a dwindling health care workforce and declining revenues.

And despite challenges in rural infrastructure, poverty, unemployment, education, transportation and a changing demography, those who deliver rural health care in our state demonstrate what is possible through collaboration, professional dedication, entrepreneurship and volunteerism. Georgia's rural health care workforce has become the great equalizer when facing the persistent inequities in health that penalize rural Georgians. Every day, their heroic efforts demonstrate the delicate relationship between the health of one and health of all.

At Healthcare Georgia Foundation, we firmly believe that one's health should not be determined by their place of residence or their zip code. Rural Georgians are older, sicker and poorer than urban residents and find themselves each day relying on a severely compromised health-care system. If ignored, Georgia's health care delivery system is at risk of collapsing on the shoulders of frail rural communities. The existence of two Georgias, one with and one without better health and health care should not be tolerated.

While our state continues to focus on who has access to care, the quality of care and who is going to pay for care, we believe the more urgent discussions about health outcomes should be focused on the approximately 20 percent of our population who proudly call rural Georgia their home. The conditions in which rural Georgians live, work and play are powerful determinants of their health and well-being.

Because of the ever-shifting health care landscape, our rural communities are poised to become once again an incubator of promising new approaches to effective, sustainable and affordable health care. And yet, they face daily challenges: For each hospital or clinic that closes, or the departure of a community's only health care provider, there are devastating financial consequences for the community. These are losses for which there may be no recovery.

National Rural Health Day is an opportunity to bring to light the challenges and the opportunities rural Georgians face and to showcase the efforts of our rural health care workforce. Whether it's the care coordination efforts in Spring Creek Clinic in Colquitt, the innovative use of telemedicine in the delivery of emergency services in Sumter County or the engagement of community health workers and promoters in Dalton, there are countless examples of rural communities seeking to preserve, protect and promote healthy living. We salute these and countless other heroes as they champion for better health and health care for our under served communities.

Gary Nelson, Ph.D., is president of the Healthcare Georgia Foundation Inc.

This story was originally published November 20, 2015 at 8:14 PM with the headline "YOUR SAY: Celebrating the 'can do' spirit of our rural communities ."