Primary Care and Rural Health, Office of

Mission

The Office of Primary Care and Rural Health (OPCRH) focuses on increasing access to high-quality, comprehensive, coordinated, culturally appropriate care for underserved Rhode Islanders through needs assessment, promotion of the health care safety net, workforce development, collaboration with health system stakeholders, and community capacity-building. The Primary Care Office is responsible for assessing primary care, psychiatric, and oral health care capacities in the state, delineating geographic and specialty specific shortages, seeking and maintaining federal shortage designations, and developing plans to address those shortages. Similarly, the State Office of Rural Health grant strengthens rural/non-metro health care delivery systems. The OPCRH is the primary state contact for the National Health Service Corps and works with state and federal partners to strengthen the recruitment and retention of qualified health professionals serving low-income, uninsured, and underinsured populations. Also, the OPCRH staffs the Primary Care Physician Advisory Committee (PCPAC), which provides recommendations to the Department of Health on medical and policy matters impacting the quality and distribution of primary care services statewide.

2010 Accomplishments and Milestones

• Awarded 11 mini-grants to organizations serving non-metro communities to support community assessment and strategic planning around improving rural health systems, with a focus on enhancing medical homes and maternal and child health services.
• Joined National Rural Recruitment and Retention Network, augmenting the state¿s efforts to increase the number of health care providers working in non-metro and underserved areas.
• Defined opportunities for HEALTH to advance statewide adoption of Patient Centered Medical Homes.