2022 West Virginia Rural Health Awards
Each year, the West Virginia Rural Health Conference celebrates the accomplishments of outstanding individuals and organizations in the field of rural health.
These awards are granted to individuals or organizations deserving of recognition for their rural health efforts in West Virginia.
Here are our 2022 Rural Health Award Winners
Organization for Excellence in Rural Health – HealthNet Aeromedical
WV has a severe shortage of EMS workers. Over 300 EMS positions are open across the state and this shortage is particularly impacting rural areas of the state. Governor Justice allotted 10 million dollars of CARES funds to address EMS issues that have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Coronavirus Relief Fund guidance as published in the Code of Federal Regulations directs states to use the funds to deal with the public health crisis created by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Governor’s office intent has not been to fund short term “fixes” to the EMS workforce issues illuminated by the COVID-19 pandemic but rather to use these funds to seed initiatives that will have a long-lasting impact on the workforce and more importantly equip us to care for our citizens. In order to bring training out to rural areas, the Community and Technical college needs mobile “laboratories” for hands on learning for these EMS students. Travel to college campuses is often prohibitive for working adults. Through the Governor’s Answer the Call EMS Initiative, the state purchased five mobile ambulance simulators through public private partnership with Healthnet Aeromedical in collaboration with the Community and Technical College System. These simulators will be managed by Healthnet and deployed to Northern Panhandle, Eastern Panhandle, Beckley, Kanawha Valley/Charleston/Huntington, Morgantown/Central WV/Clarksburg, Fairmont areas of the state where Healthnet has base operations. Healthnet has over 35 years of experience in providing education and emergency services; qualified drivers and managing EMS equipment. These simulators will be delivered by Healthnet personnel upon request to any EMS training site across the state for their use. Healthnet has managed training for all Community and Technical College personnel to use the simulators and will continue to manage training across the state on the use of this equipment. Bottom line, this investment will serve the state’s most rural and underserved areas for years to come. Without the expertise of Healthnet on this project, we wouldn’t have achieved the successful outcome to be able to deliver rural EMS education.
This award is given to an individual in recognition of exceptionally meritorious contributions to the improvement of health to the people in rural West Virginia. It honors creative work of particular effectiveness in applying knowledge or innovative organizational work to the betterment of community health. Individuals nominated for the award will have made significant and well recognized contributions to the improvement of rural health in West Virginia.
Excellence in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion – Kimberly Becher
Dr. Becher has served as a volunteer physician at the Marshall Medical Outreach homeless clinic and as a volunteer at The Health Sciences and Technology Academy of West Virginia University summer camp, a math and science program that aims to empower minority, rural and underrepresented high school students. Passionate about health policy and reform advocacy, Becher was named one of Marshall University’s Paul Ambrose Health Policy Fellows. In this capacity, she participated in key health policy meetings of the West Virginia state legislature and served as a physician resource to legislative leaders. As an attending physician, Dr. Becher has focused on addressing social determinants of health both directly in her clinic and in the surrounding communities. She is an advocate for LGBTQIA+ health equity and is a member of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health. She served on the Mountaineer Food Bank’s board of directors from 2018-2021 and continues to be on the Clay Senior and Community Services board.
This award is given in recognition of exceptionally meritorious contributions to promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in healthcare in WV. This award honors individuals or organizations that endeavor to promote equitable access to healthcare resources by individuals from minority backgrounds. We seek to celebrate those working to create a more just healthcare system for individuals from minority backgrounds living in WV. The West Virginia Rural Health Association will provide a $1,000 cash award to the recipient of this award.
Excellence in Rural Health – Individual – Ron Stallings
A native of Madison, West Virginia, Dr. Ron Stollings earned both bachelor’s and master’s degrees from West Virginia University. He is a graduate of the Marshall University School of Medicine and completed a residency in internal medicine at Bowman Gray School of Medicine at Wake Forest University. While he left home for college and medical school, he always knew he would return to care for his community. He has been elected as a Fellow to the American College of Physicians. Also, he is a professor of medicine for the West Virginia University School of Medicine. Dr. Stollings serves on the Visiting Committee of the WVU School of Public Health. He has been serving his community and the state for more than 37 years. While continuing to practice medicine, Dr. Stollings takes the lead on public health and policy initiatives to improve health and the quality of life for West Virginians. He strongly believes that good health outcomes, quality education and a good economy are inextricably linked. He started back in the 1980s by spearheading the creation and later the expansion of the Madison-Danville community walking trail and he hasn’t stopped trying to help his community and our state. For 16 years Dr. Stollings has served as a member of the West Virginia State Senate. He has served as Vice Chairman and Chairman of the Senate Health and Human Resources Committee and co-chair of both the Legislative Select Committee on Oral Health and the West Virginia State Senate Public Health Caucus. As a Senator he worked on the Opioid Reduction Act to address the opioid use crisis. This legislation limited ongoing chronic opioid prescriptions to 30 days’ supply, and first-time opioid prescriptions to 7 days’ supply for surgeons and 3 days’ supply for emergency rooms and dentists. He helped to make sure the legislation would limit access to the most addictive drugs, while protecting the elderly with terminal disease and those with injuries who need pain medication. He continues to address substance use disorder by advocating for best practices. He fights to strengthen child protective services and the foster care system. Also, he works tirelessly to help children who have suffered adverse childhood experiences. Through his leadership West Virginia drafted the first State Oral Health Plan and established the Office of Oral Health. During a recent legislative session, he championed a much-needed improvement in adult oral health care through the establishment of a $1,000 benefit for adult Medicaid dental care.
This award is given to an organization or program in recognition of exceptionally meritorious contributions to the improvement of health for people in rural West Virginia. It honors creative or innovative work in applying knowledge or practice for the betterment of community health. Organizations nominated for the award will have made significant and well recognized contributions to the improvement of rural health in West Virginia. The WV Rural Health Association will provide a $500 cash award to the recipient of this award.
Outstanding Rural Health Student – Nick Dolan
Nick Dolan is a fourth-year medical student who has a vision for his rural hometown of Madison, WV, and is making it happen! Nick states “as a medical student at Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine and having grown up in rural West Virginia, I have learned a great deal about the health of our hard-working community members. This has made me realize that their health is the future of our state. We in medicine should lead the way and become action oriented in addressing all of the social determinants of health and offer healthier lifestyle choices to our patients.” Nick, however, did not wait until he graduated and began practicing to make a positive impact on his hometown. As a busy medical student, he found time to work with and garner support from community leaders in Boone County and the Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine. He wrote his first grant proposal and was able to obtain funding for an outdoor fitness park in Madison. This community most recently lost their only fitness facility in the county and has some of the worse health and wellness demographics in the state. The fitness park was completed and dedicated in July 2022 to an influential community member (Robert “Parker” Graffius) who passed away in December of 2012. The park has 13 weather-proof workout stations that will allow beginners to use the equipment. This area is well known to the entire county and easily accessible. The fitness park is available to all citizens and there will be no fees associated with the use of the area. The main focus will be to provide the citizens an opportunity to participate in physical activity that could improve health outcomes and the overall well-being of the community.
This award recognizes extraordinary student initiated and performed activity demonstrated within the field of rural health. The nominee will have significant accomplishments in rural health. Efforts may include clinical, infrastructure development, research, promotional or volunteer activities. The West Virginia Rural Health Association will provide a $1,000 cash award to the Outstanding Rural Health Student of the Year.
Outstanding Rural Health Provider – Daniel Doyle
Dr. Doyle is an advocate for rural health and improving the lives of persons living in rural areas. His untiring work on Pulmonary Health is but one example. From a focus on pulmonary rehab for persons with COPD to prevention practices – “Catch My Breath” as an example, pulmonary health has been made visible. Now he is focusing on creating a systems approach to pulmonary health. He has also worked on another project, which focused on reducing unnecessary use of hospitals and polypharmacy – this was part of a chronic care effort and coordination of care. Dr. Doyle’s contagious passion for the patients serves, who have COPD is non-ending, he doesn’t know what a weekend is as all his efforts are focused, many times keeping others on the team on our toes! The impact of his example and leadership has brought many other physicians and administrators to tackle the extreme burden of COPD in the State of WV, expanding pulmonary rehabilitation as well as helping to create a program of early prevention in area schools. The prevention aspect brought anti-vaping education, and working with the RAZE program, he was able to dove-tail both, vaping, and tobacco prevention to educate thousands of middle and high schoolers in the region. He helped to establish the Appalachian Pulmonary Health Project (APHP) to encompass both goals of creating access to care and prevention. His work and close association with the Dorney-Koppel Foundation, the Pallottine Foundation of Huntington, and Charleston Area Medical Center has facilitated funding so that now the APHP has grown to 10 clinical sites in the rural areas of WV that offer specialized pulmonary rehabilitation for COPD patients.
This award recognizes a direct service provider who has exhibited outstanding leadership in the improvement of health care services to the rural areas of West Virginia. The nominees can include any healthcare provider from any discipline including, but not limited to, physicians, physician associates, nurse practitioners, nurse midwives, social workers, nurses, pharmacists, physical therapists, psychologists.
