Talk Radio News Service: News, Politics, Media

By Benny Martinez - University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) plays a key role in increasing health care for rural America, according to USDA Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan. Merrigan spent Wednesday morning speaking with the National Rural Health Association (NRHA) and its members at the organization’s 21st Annual Rural Health Policy Institute.

The NRHA, a non-profit organization, has been in Washington all week consulting with various House Members regarding initiatives to expand the quality of health care coverage to rural America.

According to Merrigan, the USDA is working hard to increase the availability of quality health care to rural Americans. Over the past ten years, the Department of Agriculture awarded $2.6 billion through loans and grants to over 1,200 health care facilities. According to Merrigan, this money was used to improve facility infrastructure and to build new hospitals and clinics in rural America.

Merrigan also said that the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act granted the USDA $2.5 billion in an effort to expand broadband connection to rural hospitals and communities. Merrigan believes that this expansion will improve the long-term economic health of rural America and increase the efficiency of exchanging information between institutions.

“High speed connections will allow medical specialists to tell a medicine to provide advanced diagnosis for patients,” Merrigan said. “Or, to consult colleagues in other hospitals while sharing medical records.”

Using the theme, “Community Matters,” NRHA President Dennis Berens advocated the collaboration between his organization and Congress to expand quality health care to rural communities, saying “health, like politics, is always local.”