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Minnesota Rural Health Awards
Rural Health Awards are given annually to individuals and groups who have made a significant contribution to improving rural health in Minnesota.
Nominees may have contributed to rural health in any capacity, as a volunteer or in a paid position.
Awards are announced every year on National Rural Health Day, the third Thursday of November.
2024 Minnesota Rural Health Awards
The 2024 awards will be announced on National Rural Health Day, November 21, 2024.
The awardees will be honored in person at the 2025 MN Rural Health Conference.
2023 Rural Health Awards
These awards were announced on National Rural Health Day, Thursday November 16, 2023. You may view or download the MDH press release. The 2023 awardees are:
- Ann Bussey, rural community advocate from Side Lake, receives the 2023 Minnesota Rural Health Hero Policy Award for her advocacy work in ensuring the needs of older adults on the Iron Range, as well those across Greater Minnesota and rural America, are reflected in policy decisions.
- Shannon Shaw, FNP, Medical Services Coordinator for the Family Advocacy Center of Northern Minnesota, Bemidji, receives the 2023 Minnesota Rural Health Hero Practitioner Award for her work in ensuring access to comprehensive, age appropriate and culturally sensitive care for victims of child abuse, sexual assault, neglect, trafficking and intimate partner violence in Northern Minnesota.
- Riverwood Healthcare Center, Aitkin, receives the 2023 Minnesota Rural Health Team Award for its work in identifying the social determinants of health among their patients, and creating community partnerships to address those needs.
- Ted Matthews, director of Minnesota Rural Mental Health, Hutchinson, is the recipient of the 2023 Minnesota Rural Health Lifetime Achievement Award for his work in providing mental health support to farmers across the state.
2023 Minnesota Rural Health Hero Policy Award
Ann Bussey, rural community advocate from Side Lake, receives the 2023 Minnesota Rural Health Hero Policy Award for her advocacy work in ensuring the needs of older adults on the Iron Range, as well those across Greater Minnesota and rural America, are reflected in policy decisions.
A retired health care leader, Bussey has been a tireless advocate for equitable health opportunities for rural older adults. In 2021, she became a member of the inaugural cohort of the University of Minnesota Project REACH (Rural Experts Advancing Community Health) program that provides community leaders in rural Minnesota with health policy and leadership training. Bussey met with stakeholders across Minnesota to get feedback on her work and talk about the benefits of creating and maintaining physical and virtual opportunities for older adults to stay connected and thrive in place. Bussey wrote the Aging in Minnesota Fact Sheet 2022 (PDF) to help to reframe and inform the narrative on aging so that policymakers have a better understanding about the 65+ population in Minnesota; she has presented her work locally, statewide and nationally. To address isolation and help older adults use technology effectively, Bussey not only supports expanded broadband service across Minnesota’s rural and remote areas, but she has become a champion of providing digital inclusion and literacy to older adults through Minnesota’s libraries. As a result of Bussey’s policy work, the Minnesota State Library five-year plan includes initiatives that support Minnesota’s growing rural 65+ population.
2023 Minnesota Rural Health Hero Practitioner Award
Shannon Shaw, FNP, Medical Services Coordinator for the Family Advocacy Center of Northern Minnesota, Bemidji, receives the 2023 Minnesota Rural Health Hero Practitioner Award for her work in ensuring access to comprehensive, age appropriate and culturally sensitive care for victims of child abuse, sexual assault, neglect, trafficking and intimate partner violence in Northern Minnesota.
A Board-Certified Family Nurse Practitioner and Forensic Nurse Clinician, Shannon Shaw serves as the Medical Services Coordinator for the Family Advocacy Center of Northern Minnesota (FACNM), an abuse assessment organization that offers comprehensive medical care and treatment for those who have been physically or sexually abused. FACNM is the only adult and pediatric certified sexual assault nurse examiner program in the state of Minnesota outside of the Twin Cities. The services Shaw provides spans 17 counties and four Tribal Reservations; her goal is to ensure that every victim of sexual abuse receives the medical examination, forensic evidence collection, and resources needed to begin the journey of healing. Shaw trains fellow nurse practitioners and registered nurses to conduct medical examinations of and evidence collection from victims so that more staff are available to do this important work. Shaw is also trained and certified in the interviewing of vulnerable adults and intimate partner violence. Her commitment and dedicated expertise have provided access to necessary and compassionate care for victims of abuse in the rural Northern Minnesota community and beyond.
2023 Minnesota Rural Health Team Award
Riverwood Healthcare Center, Aitkin, receives the 2023 Minnesota Rural Health Team Award for its work in identifying the social determinants of health among their patients, and creating community partnerships to address those needs.
Located in rural Northeast Minnesota, Riverwood Healthcare Center works hard to provide services to a diverse population of elderly, low-income, and multi-generational families. In response to their 2022 Community Health Needs Assessment, Riverwood Healthcare Center developed the Riverwood Connects program (#togetherwewillconnect) to identify the unique needs of the population they serve and to address social determinants of health. This community health initiative is a collaborative effort with leaders from Aitkin County Statewide Health Improvement Partnership (SHIP), Aitkin Farmers Market Hub and Aitkin County CARE (Coordinating Area Resources Effectively). They have been working together to implement Find Help, a 24/7 on-line resource hub, as well as establish the Food Rx Program that provides qualifying participants with Community Support Agriculture (CSA) shares and Riverwood Connect Bucks to be used at the Aitkin Farmers Market Hub. Access to affordable nutritious food, as well as to other community resources such as transportation, utility and housing assistance, are essential resources that help advance health equity in Aitkin County and beyond.
2023 Minnesota Rural Health Lifetime Achievement Award
Ted Matthews, director of Minnesota Rural Mental Health, Hutchinson, is the recipient of the 2023 Minnesota Rural Health Lifetime Achievement Award for his work in providing mental health support to farmers across the state.
Ted Matthews knows farming can be a very stressful occupation for farmers and their families and he also knows how much stigma there is about receiving help for mental health issues within farming communities. Matthews is a rural mental health practitioner with over 30 years of experience in counseling people in rural areas. He brings a deep understanding of farming culture to his practice and has extensive experience in the areas of PTSD, crisis intervention, family issues, suicidology and domestic abuse. Funded through the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, Matthews has been the only state-funded psychologist for farmers for almost two decades. This unique program has been successful for a number of reasons: 1) there is no paperwork and no fee for farmers and their families; 2) a diagnosis of mental illness is not a prerequisite for receiving services; and 3) Matthews understands the unique emotional, economic, social, psychological and geographic issues and challenges within the ag industry. Like his clients, Matthews is always on the job. He travels across the state to meet with people and is available for consultation by phone 24/7. His work has helped normalize mental wellness as a goal for everyone and other states are now interested in this model of care for their own farming communities.