Center for Rural Health Funds Scholarships to Health Quality Conference
Jun 26,
2008
GRAND FORKS, N.D. – The Center for Rural Health at the University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences is funding scholarships through its SHIP program for three North Dakota health professionals to attend national conferences on providing quality health care in rural communities.
Charlene Hansen, Nursing Services Director and QI Director/Manager at Southwest Healthcare Services, Bowman; Paula Brown, ADON, QA, RM at McKenzie County Healthcare Systems, Watford City; and Jody Ward, North Dakota Critical Access Hospital Quality Improvement Network Coordinator, Minot,will attend the National Rural Health Association’s Annual Quality and Clinical Conferences, July 14-17 in San Diego, CA.
Participation in the conferences is funded by the Small Hospital Improvement Program (SHIP) at the University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences’ Center for Rural Health in Grand Forks. This is the third year that North Dakota SHIP has funded scholarships in the state to support the capacity of small rural hospitals in providing the highest quality of care.
One of the goals of SHIP, a federally funded initiative sponsored by the Office of Rural Health Policy, Health Resources and Services Administration, is to help hospitals reduce medical errors and support quality improvement initiatives.
“The conference ‘The Dynamics of Rural Health Care’ will provide key hospital personnel the opportunity to learn from and interact with their peers from across the country who understand rural healthcare,” said Marlene Miller, SHIP project director at the Center for Rural Health. “Each of the three scholarship recipients will represent North Dakota and bring information back to share with other organizations within their healthcare networks.”
