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Rural Health Innovation Collaborative (RHIC): A Community Partnership

 


Partners

Indiana State


Indiana University


Union Hospital Richard G Lugar Center


IVY Tech


Hamilton Center


Terre Haute EDC


City of Terre Haute, Indiana

Supporting Partners

Indiana Rural Health Association


Vermillion Community Health Center



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RHIC News

Athletic trainers, emergency medical providers conduct joint training

When three Indiana State University student athletes were injured, emergencyresponders and a Lifeline helicopter crew were already at Memorial Stadium to help athletic trainers assess the injuries and determine appropriate treatment.

With the Wabash Valley under a seemingly endless heat advisory, they were able to make those assessments in the air conditioned comfort of the Norman and Linda Pellegrini Locker Room. For more information Click Here

 

State Approves Master's of Social Work degree at Indiana State

August 15, 2011

A Master of Social Work degree is the latest inaseries of new health careprograms at Indiana State University to receive approval from the Indiana Commission forHigher Education. The commission approved the program on Friday.

The 60-credit hour program will offerconcentrations in health or mental health and addictions. Consistent with Indiana State's commitment to address the health care needs of rural communities, the new program will focus on rural practice and require 940 hours of clinical practice. There will be a possibility of advanced placement in the program for those with an undergraduate degree in social work. For more information click here

 

Indiana State Shows Way in Rural Healthcare

February 25, 2011

As a nursing student in 1967, Esther Acree was nervous the first time she had to give a shot. Painless injections were the stuff of science fiction’s Dr. “Bones” McCoy on TV’s Star Trek. 

“Being in the hospital for the first time, right out of nursing fundamentals class, I had to draw up 3cc’s of penicillin in a glass syringe, the kind where we used to sterilize the needles and draw up the medication,” Acree said. “Miss (Helen) Dean, our fundamentals teacher, said, ‘You know you have to keep pushing it because it clogs up in the end.’ Well, I didn’t know that.” To continue reading click here

 

Indiana Rural Health Association Joins the Rural Health Innovation Collaborative as Supporting Member

February 8, 2011

The Rural Health Innovation Collaborative (RHIC) is pleased to announce the addition of the Indiana Rural Health Association (IRHA) as its newest Supporting Member. Other RHIC members include: Union Hospital and its Richard G. Lugar Center for Rural Health, Indiana State University, Indiana University School of Medicine, Ivy Tech Community College Wabash Valley, the City of Terre Haute, the Terre Haute Economic Development Corporation, Hamilton Center and the Vermillion Parke Community Health Center.

The major focus of the RHIC is on educating and training health care professions students to work together to provide high quality health care, particularly in Indiana’s rural communities where health care providers are so urgently needed. IRHA Joins the RHIC release

 

New RHIC Simulation Center Better Prepares Health Care Students and Providers

January 26, 2011

Partners of the Rural Health Innovation Collaborative (RHIC) are developing a Simulation Center for the interprofessional education of health care professions students and providers.
Leaders from Union Hospital, Ivy Tech Community College-Wabash Valley and Indiana State University are creating a learning environment in which students from their campuses learn to work together to care for patients using real-life scenarios and life-like electronic "patients" that mimic actual human conditions. Medical students from Indiana University School of Medicine, local secondary school students, and hospital staff also will have access to the center. RHIC Simulation Center Press Release

Hamilton Center Joins the Rural Health Innovation Collaborative (RHIC) as Primary Member

January 13, 2011

The Rural Health Innovation Collaborative (RHIC) is pleased to announce the addition of Hamilton Center, Inc. as its newest Primary Member. Other Primary Members include: Union Hospital and its Richard G. Lugar Center for Rural Health, Indiana State University, Indiana University School of Medicine, Ivy Tech Community College Wabash Valley, the City of Terre Haute, and the Terre Haute Economic Development Corporation. The RHIC also includes the Vermillion Parke Community Health Center as a Supporting Member. The major focus of the RHIC is on educating and training health care professions students to work together to provide high quality health care, particularly in Indiana’s rural communities where health care providers are so urgently needed. Hamilton Center Joins the RHIC Press Relase

Terre Haute earns Indiana Chamber's Community of the Year honor        

http://TerreHauteINCOC.weblinkconnect.com/CWT/External/WCPages/WCWebContent/WebContentPage.aspx?ContentID=736 TERRE HAUTE, IN -- More than $1 billion in public and private sector partnerships -- ranging from the development of one of the largest wetlands projects in the country to a downtown renaissance --contributed to Terre Haute being named the 2010 Community of the Year in an announcement today by Kevin Brinegar, president of the Indiana Chamber of Commerce.

“Terre Haute has been building toward this type of recognition and spotlight for several years,” said Brinegar. “Thanks to a lot of hard work by various groups, the city has enhanced its economic future and elevated its quality of life for residents and visitors.” Terre Haute earns Indiana Chamber's Community of the Year honor

Public Health System Assessment

August 14, 2009

On August 14, 2009, public health system partners of Vigo County convened a meeting to evaluate how to better serve the public health and health care needs of the county’s estimated 105,000 residents. The Rural Health Innovation Collaborative hosted the all day event, in partnership with the Vigo County Health Department. The Indiana State Department of Health, in collaboration with Purdue University’s Healthcare Technical Assistance Program, worked together to create this opportunity for all local public health system partners to identify existing strengths, as well as opportunities to establish and formalize public health system infrastructure in Indiana counties. To se more, please "click" on the link below:

Vigo County Public Health System Assessment

Rural Health Innovation Collaborative Seeks Public Input - Neighborhood

July 20, 2010

The Rural Health Innovation Collaborative (The RHIC) will host a neighborhood planning workshop July 20-21 for the area between the Indiana State University campus and Union Hospital. The RHIC is working to improve and expand education and training of current and future health care professionals, especially those committed to serving rural and under served populations.

The public is invited to the Landsbaum Center for Health Education, 1433 N. 6 1/2 St., during three sessions set aside for conversations about the neighborhood’s future. The sessions are scheduled for 1:30-7 p.m. July 20 and then again from 9-11:30 a.m. and 1:30-4 p.m. July 21. Interested persons may stop in at any time during the scheduled sessions and stay as little or as long as they want. RHIC Neighborhood Workshop Press Release

 

Revitalization Master Plan Ready to Evolve

July 17, 2010

Sue Loughlin The Tribune-Star

TERRE HAUTE A vibrant, revitalized neighborhood between Union Hospital and Indiana State University is one of the goals of the Rural Health Innovation Collaborative.

A planning process to turn the vision into reality has begun, but an important component involves getting feedback from those who already live, work and have an interest in that area.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, RHIC partners will sponsor neighborhood planning workshops so that those most directly affected have a say in what happens. Revitalization-master-plan-ready-to-evolve

Eight Rural Health Scholars Announced

May 6, 2010

Indiana State University has awarded full-tuition waivers to eight Indiana students as part of their acceptance into the Rural Health Program, a program developed by Indiana State and the Indiana University School of Medicine to provide rural Indiana communities with better access to healthcare.

The Rural Health Program prepares students from rural Indiana to be primary care physicians in their hometowns or similar rural towns. As part of the program, students work with rural physicians, take part in summer internships at rural clinics, participate in a health seminar series, conduct research as undergraduates and gain patient experience.

To be admitted into the program, students must be Indiana residents from rural communities achieve a high school cumulative grade point average of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale and complete an interview and wish to become a physician in a rural Indiana community. Indiana State welcomes the following Rural Health Scholars for fall 2010

 

Rural Health Doctor Gives Hometown Care

March 23, 2010

The frames on Jennifer Mollencupp's office walls are a road map of her life.

Several of the simplest frames hold certificates that tell of her time in South Bend between July 2005 and June 2008 working as a resident in family medicine. A thick ebony frame holds the July 2006 certificate from the State of Indiana that gives her permission to practice medicine.

And a weighty red-matted frame boasts one of her biggest accomplishments: the diploma dated May 2005 signifying that she earned her doctor of medicine degree from Indiana University.Continue Reading

Study Confirms Wabash Valley Health Care Worker Shortage

April 1, 2010

A study commissioned by Indiana State University's College of Nursing, Health, and Human Services has found shortages in almost every health care field in the Wabash Valley.

Nurses and physicians top the list of shortage areas. The survey found a need for 702 to 827 additional nurses and 134 to 275 primary care physicians in an 11-county area of west-central Indiana. Continue Reading or to view West Central Indiana - Health Professions Workforce Needs Assessment Report Click Here

 

Bradley: Indiana State's Partnerships Solve Problems, Enhance Health Care in Indiana

March 25, 2010

Indiana State prides itself in the fact that our graduates not only have a solid well-rounded education but that they also have the skills needed to excel in the workplace. One of those skills is the ability to collaborate as part of a team. This is becoming increasingly more important in today’s society as a way to maximize the strengths of colleagues and partner organizations while working toward a shared vision, avoiding unnecessary duplication and solving complex problems.

In some areas the result is a new emphasis on intra- and inter-professional education. For example, Indiana State University has joined with the Indiana University School of Medicine, Union Hospital and its Richard G. Lugar Center for Rural Health, Ivy Tech Community College of the Wabash Valley, the Terre Haute Economic Development Corporation and the City of Terre Haute to form the Rural Health Innovation Collaborative (RHIC). Continue Reading

Higher Ed Commission Okays New Nursing, Physical Therapy Prgora,s

March 12, 2010

Indiana State University's College of Nursing, Health, and Human Services is further expanding its curriculum to offer doctoral degrees in nursing practice and physical therapy.

A vote Friday from the Indiana Commission for Higher Education approved the two new degree programs only one month after ISU received the Commission's support for a Master of Science degree in physician assistant studies.

ISU College of Nursing, Health, and Human Services Dean Richard "Biff" Williams said the new programs will help ISU meet its mission of being engaged in the community. Continue Reading

Rural Health Business Incubator Efforts for Vigo County Get Finical Boost

March 10, 2010

Howard Greninger The Tribune-Star

TERRE HAUTE -- Efforts to create a business incubator and accelerator in Vigo County for rural health care and life science companies took a step forward Wednesday with a grant from Duke Energy, combined with funding from various organizations and the State of Indiana.

In addition, Duke Energy also provided a grant to reimburse the Vigo County Redevelopment Commission for a land survey to subdivide property that once housed Pfizer’s Exubera plant, south of Terre Haute. That land is being called the Vigo County Industrial Park II. Continue Reading

 

Rural Health Innovation Collaborative Secures Feasibility Study Funding

March 10, 2010

A grant from Duke Energy Foundation and matching state funds will enable the Rural Health Innovation Collaborative (RHIC) to study the feasibility of a rural healthcare and life science-oriented business incubator and accelerator.

The study will assess the possibility of building or acquiring a facility to house and support the development of new ventures.

"A business incubator and accelerator associated with the RHIC has great potential to provide the region with much-needed job creation, economic diversity and a vehicle for technology transfer," said Richard "Biff" Williams, dean of Indiana State's College of Nursing, Health, and Human Services and chair of the RHIC Facilities Committee. Continue Reading

 

Public Health System Assessment Results

January 23, 2010

On August 14, 2009, public health system partners of Vigo County convened a meeting to evaluate how to better serve the public health and healthcare needs of the county’s estimated 105,000 residents. The Rural Health Innovation Collaborative hosted the all day event, in partnership with the Vigo County Health Department. The Indiana State Department of Health, in collaboration with Purdue University’s Healthcare Technical Assistance Program, worked together to create this opportunity for all local public health system partners to identify existing strengths, as well as opportunities to establish and formalize public health system infrastructure in Indiana counties. To see more, please "click" on the link below:

Vigo County Public Health Assessment

To view the letter sent to participants click link below:

Public Health System Assessment Results Letter

 

Press Release
July 31, 2009

Rural Health Innovation Collaborative and Vigo Country Health Department to Sponsor Vigo County Local Public Health Assessment

Local community leaders in health and human services will convene at the Landsbaum Center for Health Education in Terre Haute, Indiana on August 14, 2009 from 8:30 am to 1:00 pm to assess the performance of Vigo County's local public health system. The Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH) and Dr. Judith Monroe, supports the assessment process through the Indiana Public Health System Quality Improvement Program.

"The Vigo County Local Public Health System Assessment is an important process that will help us identify health issues within our community. Reaching out to our citizens is the best way to inform, educate and link people with health services and to evaluate accessibility and effectiveness. We must all work together to promote healthy lifestyles which in turn will improve the overall health of our population," said Terre Haute Mayor Duke Bennett. [read more]

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Press Release
12/1/2008

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - Neighborhood revitalization and economic development will be two of the positive results of a long-range plan involving Terre Haute government, education and business partners who are launching the Rural Health Innovation Collaborative as an aggressive response to current and anticipated health care worker shortages in Vigo County and surrounding rural communities. [read more]

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