USM Muskie Professor Appointed to National Advisory Committee on Rural Health
November, 2008
Portland, Maine—Dr. David Hartley of the USM Muskie School of Public Service has been appointed by Secretary Mike Leavitt of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to the National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services. This 21-member panel of nationally recognized experts provides recommendations on rural health and human services issues to the secretary.
"Dr. Hartley's inclusion in this distinguished group represents our growing expertise in this critical policy area," said Bill Foster, dean of the Muskie School. "The research he is directing is making significant contributions to our understanding of how best to address the health needs of rural Americans."
Dr. Hartley is the director of the Muskie School's Maine Rural Health Research Center, one of six national centers funded by the federal Office of Rural Health Policy. Current research includes a focus on nutrition options for rural youth as well as rural mental health services and rural substance abuse. Hartley is a past president of the Maine Rural Health Association, and sat on the National Rural Health Association's Rural Health Policy Board for 6 years. In 2003, he received the Distinguished Researcher award from that organization. In 2004, he sat on the National Academy of Science, Institute of Medicine Committee on the Future of Rural Health.
The National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services was chartered in 1987 to advise DHHS on ways to address health care problems in rural America. The committee's private and public-sector members reflect wide-ranging experience with rural issues in medicine, nursing, administration, finance, law, research, business, and public health.
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