Press release
WASHINGTON—Congressmen Markwayne Mullin (R-OK-2) and Kurt Schrader (D-OR-5) celebrate a legislative victory as the Senate companion (S. 2278) to their bill (H.R. 5641), the State Offices of Rural Health Reauthorization Act of 2018, was signed into law late last year. The bill reauthorizes the State Offices of Rural Health grant program through 2022 and helps provide rural communities with vital resources to improve rural health care and increase access to quality, affordable care to individuals in rural communities.
“Americans in rural parts of our country routinely face difficulties accessing health care,” said Rep. Mullin (OK-2). “As a whole, rural America has far fewer doctors, specialists, and hospitals per population than in urban and suburban areas. The reauthorization of the State Offices of Rural Health grants allows this program to keep critical access hospitals open, training programs running, and most importantly, patients healthy. I am proud to work with Congressman Schrader to get a bill signed into law that improves the quality of life for rural Americans.”
“I am very pleased that our legislation to reauthorize the State Offices of Rural Health grant program was signed into law at the end of the year,” said Rep. Schrader (OR-5). “For our rural communities, state offices of rural health provide vital services to areas that often have limited resources and access to health services. In Oregon, our Office of Rural Health worked to develop recruitment and retention programs to attract health care professionals to our underserved areas. It has also connected our small rural health systems with state and federal resources, while providing technical support for our rural health care delivery systems. Our bipartisan bill expands these crucial services that ensure our rural communities have access to affordable, quality health care.”
“The passage of State Offices of Rural Health Reauthorization bill is an important step to ensure the support for rural hospitals, clinics and health care practitioners,” said Teryl Eisinger, Executive Director of the National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health. “State Offices of Rural Health are anchors of information and technical assistance for rural health improvement and we are thrilled by Rep. Mullin and Rep. Schrader’s work to get this signed into law.”
Established in 1991, Oklahoma State University’s Office of Rural Health was created as part of a federal mandate to coordinate, plan, and promote quality health care for underserved rural Oklahomans. The Office of Rural Health works with rural communities to help ensure their health care infrastructure is economically viable and to broaden and improve the access and quality of health care services.
Established in 1979, the Oregon Office of Rural Health was created to improve the accessibility of quality health care for underserved rural Oregonians. The Office of Rural Health works with rural communities to help ensure their health care infrastructure is economically viable and to broaden and improve the access and quality of health care services.
Congressmen Mullin and Schrader introduced H.R. 5641 on April 26, 2018. The bill was signed into law by President Trump on December 31, 2018.
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