Through an executive order, Governor Jeff Landry establishes the Office of Rural Health Transformation and Sustainability. Health Secretary Bruce Greenstein says the goal is to make access to quality healthcare available to everyone, regardless of where a person lives.
“No one in a rural area should have to sacrifice the quality of healthcare, the quantity of healthcare or the access because they live in a rural area,” Greenstein said.
Greenstein says one of the key priorities of the new office is to expand the healthcare workforce in rural areas.
“We’re endeavoring to create these programs that will bring specialty providers to rural areas and rural hospitals, maybe every other week, throughout the year,” Greenstein explained.
Greenstein says this new office goes beyond just the healthcare aspect; it also addresses things to improve the overall health of people living in rural areas.
“Foods, pharmacies and behavioral health access; those are some of the areas that we’re endeavoring to improve in 0ur communities,” Greenstein noted.
It’s all part of the state’s rural health transformation program, which is supported by more than $208 million in federal funding.
Nearly 1.1 million Louisianians live in rural parishes. Residents in these areas face higher rates of chronic disease, limited access to care and significant health care workforce shortages.
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