November is the traditional month of thanks and I would like
to personally thank all of our members, partners, and supporters! As we get closer to Thanksgivings, I’m
reminded of the Charlie Brown’s Thanksgiving show and the lessons we can take
from our childhood stories about being grateful. To get us into the holiday spirit, here is a clip where Snoopy, with his classic antics, is preparing a unique dinner for his friends.
During this time of year it’s especially important for us to remember the contribution of our rural farms to our dinner tables. Colorado rural communities represent 31.6 million acres of farmland across the state, they produce $7 billion annually to the state’s economy, and the rural agriculture business provides over 105,000 jobs annually. Whether you’re enjoying an office treat or sitting down to dinner with family and friends, be thankful of our rural farmers who contributed to your holiday.
At the CRHC, we are thankful of our members. Without you,
we would not be relevant and we’d like to express our deep gratitude for
engaging in our programs, services, activities and events. As our 2014 membership and sponsorship campaign
is in full swing, we hope you feel
that we are as valuable as we find you.
Member participation in CRHC programs has been incredible
and we’re excited to keep the momentum going in 2014. This year nearly eight out of ten members
participated in services, programs and activities and 100 percent actively
subscribed to communications, like the Special Delivery.
This year we measured the retention rates of those qualified
healthcare providers that we’ve recruited to your communities and our rates are higher than the national
average. Since we have a high retention
rate, our members asked us to expand our recruitment to include Allied Health
Professionals. This new service rolled out earlier this month. You
are also helping raise awareness of the great work that is done in rural
Colorado through your participation
in the Improving Communications and Readmissions (iCARE) project. This year 15 critical access hospitals (CAHs)
and 12 rural health clinics (RHCs) participated, their average readmission rate
is 5%. RHCs are also focused on
solidifying basic business operations through our Healthy Clinic
Assessment. We continue to offer you funding
for emergency responders training, equipment as well as emergency preparedness. We advocate for your communities and provide you
with the most current information facing rural healthcare today; in a timely
manner. This is just the short list of
what we do because we believe in what you do as rural healthcare facilities and
providers.
This November, the staff at CRHC wants to thank you for
choosing us to be your vehicle to strengthen healthcare in your
communities. Whether you’re reading this
as a member, partner or supporter of rural health, we sincerely appreciate your engagement!
