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University of Minnesota and the University of North Dakota's Center for Rural Health Become One of Eight Federally Designated Rural Health Research Centers

GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- The Rural Health Research Center at the University of Minnesota has been co-designated with the Center for Rural Health at the University of North Dakota (UND), as one of eight rural health research centers in the nation funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Rural Health Policy.

With this new national designation, the University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center in the School of Public Health and the Center for Rural Health (CRH) will combine their research and information dissemination expertise to undertake three national projects focusing on quality of rural health care.

Dr. Mary Wakefield, the CRH director, said that, "While significant research has been conducted nationally on health care quality in urban health settings, far less attention has focused on rural health care quality. This federal award allows us to build a clearer understanding of the factors that influence health care quality in rural settings. The results of these studies should be useful to health care providers, purchasers of health care, as well as public policy-makers, including the federal government."

"It's important that health care research pay attention to the needs of rural America, and this federal recognition and grant will help the UND Center for Rural Health expand its valuable work," said U.S. Senator Byron Dorgan. "This action adds to the Red River Valley Research Corridor and will add to our understanding of rural health care and how to make it better."

The research will focus on issues around health professional staffing, patient safety, in particular medication errors, and provision of financial incentives for improving care. Both University of Minnesota and the University of North Dakota Centers have substantial rural health research experience and the grant will enable researchers from both schools to work closely together.

The CRH will take the lead in disseminating the findings of the studies. Dr. Sue Offutt, director of information dissemination for the grant, said, "This new designation and the associated funding capitalizes on our nationally-recognized expertise in distributing user-friendly rural health information to people who need it."

The grant from the Office of Rural Health Policy in the federal Department of Health and Human Services will bring $500,000 to the CRH over the next four years.

Contact: Amanda Scurry, Office of Public Affairs, School of Medicine & Health Science, University of North Dakota, (701) 777-0871, ascurry@medicine.nodak.edu