Appointed by Senate President: Stephen S. Hershey, Jr.; James N. Matthias, Jr.
Appointed by House Speaker: Sheree L. Sample-Hughes; Jay A. Jacobs.
Appointed by Maryland Health Care Commission: Jennifer Berkman; Kevin H. Beverly; Richard Colgan, M.D.; Garret A. Falcone; Robert Grace; Heather Guerieri, R.N.; J. Wayne Howard; Holly R. Ireland; Susan M. Johnson, R.N.; Kenneth D. Kozel; Margaret D. Malaro, M.D.; W. Brett McCone; Brenda J. Mister, Ed.D.; Charles K. (Chuck) Planner; Gene M. Ransom III; Leland D. Spencer, M.D.; W. Scott Warner; Lara D. Wilson.
Ex officio: Thomas M. Middleton, Chair, Senate Finance Committee; Shane E. Pendergrass, Chair, House Health & Government Operations Committee; Dennis R. Schrader, Secretary of Health; Joy A. Strand, Chief Executive Officer, McCready Memorial Hospital; Mark Boucout, Chief Executive Officer, Garrett Regional Medical Center.
Staff: Erin M. Dorrien
c/o Government Relations & Special Projects
Maryland Health Care Commission
Metro Executive Office Building, 4201 Patterson Ave., Baltimore, MD 21215 - 2299
(410) 764-3284
e-mail: erin.dorrien@maryland.gov
In July 2016, the Work Group on Rural Health Care Delivery was established (Chapter 420, Acts of 2016).
The Work Group oversaw a study of rural health care needs in Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne's and Talbot counties. In these five mid-Eastern Shore counties, the Work Group held public hearings on their health care needs.
In the five counties, the rural health care needs study was conducted by the University of Maryland School of Public Health in partnership with the Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis at the University of Chicago, entities with expertise in rural health care delivery and planning. The study examined challenges to health care delivery, including limited availability of health care providers and services; special needs of vulnerable populations; transportation barriers, and the economic impact of closing, partly closing, or converting health care facilities. The Work Group also identified how the benefits of telehealth and the Maryland all-payer model contract might help in restructuring the delivery of rural health care services. Finally, the study developed policy options to address the health care needs of residents, and improve health care delivery in the five counties.
The Work Group was assisted by four Advisory Groups concerned with Economic Development, Transportation, Vulnerable Populations, and Workforce.
In October 2017, to the Governor and General Assembly the Work Group submitted its report, Transforming Maryland's Rural Health Care System: A Regional Approach to Rural Health Care Delivery.
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