The ninth annual Kentucky Rural Health Association Fall Conference was broadcast on the Kentucky Telehealth Network on Nov. 28, 2007, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. EST. It was a free program attended by 66 rural health practitioners and advocates in 13 sites across the state – Benton, Bowling Green, Flemingsburg, Frankfort, Hazard, Lancaster, Lexington, Louisville, Madisonville, Morehead, Mount Vernon, Murray and Tompkinsville.

The conference opened with Dr. Andrew Bernard, assistant professor in general and trauma surgery at the University of Kentucky, presenting “Trauma: Kentucky’s Unrecognized Disease” (Adobe PDF) Following Bernard’s presentation was “The Health of Kentucky: Next Steps,” in which Susan Zepeda, executive director of the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky, and Michael E. Samuels, UK’s distinguished scholar in rural health policy, discussed community grant opportunities related to a recent Kentucky Institute of Medicine report.

Next, Sarah Nicholson, the Kentucky Hospital Association’s vice president of government relations, presented “State & Federal Rural Legislative and Regulatory Update.” The conference concluded with “MRSA: The Super Bug, Hype or Health Concern?,” by Dr. Kraig Humbaugh from the Kentucky Department for Public Health.