WAPT-TV Jackson
Mississippi senator wants CDC to form new Office of Rural Health
By Troy Johnson
JACKSON, Miss. — Mississippi Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith has called on the CDC to form an Office of Rural Health.
Hyde-Smith said millions of Americans, including Mississippians, were disproportionately hit during the pandemic due to a lack of health care resources.
"I believe establishing a new office of rural health within the Center for Disease Control would be an important way to support rural communities," said Sen. Hyde-Smith.
According to the 2020 census, more than 57 million Americans live in "Rural Area."
"The deep need for investment in a public health infrastructure is to develop a workforce that looks like the community, that is from these communities, that knows how to access and reach these communities," said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, CDC Director.
In Mississippi, a "Rural Area" is classified as a county with less than 50,000 people, an area less than 500 individuals per square mile, or any municipality of fewer than 15,000 residents.
"In rural areas is access to the information about what is going on, and people wondering who they can trust. I think that is where you see the benefit of having rural primary care providers," said Wahnee Sherman, executive director of Mississippi Rural Physicians Program.
UMMC's Rural Physicians Program trains medical students. After graduation, they practice in underserved areas around the state, which they said is the main problem in health care access here in the state.