Strengthening Healthcare in Rural Communities
Rural Health Programs
Despite being home to large metropolitan areas like Phoenix and Tucson, the majority of Arizona is considered rural. As of April 2021, there are 70 Federally Qualified Health Center sites located outside of urbanized areas, 20 short term hospitals, 37 Rural Health Clinics, and 15 Critical Access hospitals1. The Alliance aims to provide training and technical assistance that supports the unique challenges of providing healthcare services in rural communities, and currently has three grants focused on rural health.
Learn about our Rural Health Program offerings below and contact Leah Meyers at LeahM@aachc.org if your organization is interested in partnering with the Alliance on issues related to rural health.
If you are looking for a primary care facility in a rural area, please visit our Community Health Center Locator.
Through a Rural Program Grant from the Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women, the Alliance has worked to integrate domestic and sexual violence services into the primary healthcare setting since 2007. Currently, four rural Community Health Center sites are partnering with the Alliance on the Rural Health Center Domestic and Sexual Violence Program:
Chiricahua Community Health Centers, Inc. (Elfrida)
Mariposa Community Health Center (Nogales)
North Country HealthCare (Holbrook)
North Country HealthCare (Springerville)
Contact Emily at emilyo@aachc.org if you are interested in learning more about the work the Alliance and our health centers are doing in this area.
Health center partners address domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking through:
- Universal, confidential screening for domestic violence during healthcare visits
- Direct advocacy services
- Supportive services to children and family members in homes where domestic violence occurred
- Trainings to professionals in a variety of fields, including healthcare, childcare, law enforcement, and education
- Community education events to increase awareness of dating violence, domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking
- Participation in coordinated community response to domestic violence, including regular collaboration with a wide variety of community partners to better address accountability for perpetrators and needs of victims
The Alliance also houses the Arizona Rural Women’s Health Network (AzRWHN), which strives to improve the health of all women living in rural Arizona. AzRWHN is a collaborative effort of various healthcare providers, health education centers, nonprofit community organizations, government entities, and universities with a mission to build our partners’ capacity to cultivate and promote innovative policies, practices, and services that improve the health of women in rural Arizona.
Currently AzRWHN has a Health Resources and Services Administration grant focused on assessing opioid use in Northern Arizona rural communities and developing a strategic action plan to affect change for childbearing age women with opioid use disorder and/or alcohol use disorder. The grant utilizes a Consortium model composed of the following community members and stakeholders: Arizona Department of Child Safety, Arizona Department of Health Services, Canyonlands Healthcare, Creek Valley Health Clinic, Coconino County Health & Human Services, Encompass Behavioral Health Services, Hopi Substance Abuse Prevention Center, and Sonoran Prevention Works. The title of this project is Northern Arizona Consortium Rural Opioid Services for Women’s Health (NAZ CROSWH). To learn more visit the AzRWHN project dashboard.
AzRWHN also has a partnership with the Arizona Coalition to End Sexual and Domestic Violence (ACESDV) to provide a sexual violence curriculum to Community Health Workers (CHWs), Communith Health Representatives (CHR), and Promotoras under a Rural Program grant from the Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women. This is to help health providers address sexual violence in rural areas where they may not have access to support services or feel more comforatable with their local CHW/CHR/Promotora.
For more information about this program or to join AzRWHN, please visit the AzRWHN website (http://azrwhn.org) or contact the AzRWHN Director, Leah Meyers, at leahm@aachc.org or 602.288.7544.