PO Box 360
Trenton, NJ 08625-0360

For Release:
Wednesday, April 20, 2016

Cathleen D. Bennett
Acting Commissioner

For Further Information Contact:
Office of Communications
(609) 984-7160

Media Advisory: New Jersey’s First Rural Health Symposium

Improve Health in the State’s Rural Communities

The New Jersey Department of Health, in partnership with the New Jersey Primary Care Association and New Jersey Rural Health Advisory Committee, will hold the state’s first rural health symposium – Quality through Collaboration: An Integrated Approach to Improving Health in New Jersey Rural Communities – to foster policy development, networking, information sharing and resource coordination among government agencies, health care providers and social services to meet the health care needs of New Jersey’s rural populations.

At 10 a.m., Acting Health Commissioner Cathleen Bennett will address the health care challenges these rural communities face, including an aging population and higher chronic disease rates than the state overall, and how state leaders can reduce significant health disparities by strengthening collaborations.

WHEN: Thursday, April 21 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

WHERE: Crowne Plaza Princeton Conference Center, 800 Scudders Mill Rd., Plainsboro, NJ 98536.

BACKGROUND: The New Jersey Department of Health’s Office of Primary Care and Rural Health is a statewide resource for rural health concerns. In collaboration with health system stakeholders, the office works to strengthen primary and preventive care and reduce barriers to health care for the medically underserved residents of rural communities across New Jersey. Based on a population density of less than 500 persons per square mile, the state has designated 123 municipalities in 18 counties as rural. Farming accounts for about 16 percent of New Jersey land use (about 730,000 acres).

For more information, visit http://www.njpca.org/event/ruralhealth2016.

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Last Reviewed: 4/20/2016