Photo credit: Alex Terrill

Second place, National Rural Health Day photo contest

Rural Health Connect

Improving the health of rural communities

In this issue: December 3, 2025

Statewide updates and news

  • San Juan nurse-anesthesiologist expands local treatment options
  • 8 rural healthcare workers honored for providing impactful care to salt-of-the-earth Utahns
  • A learning collaborative from the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine is available!
  • National Rural Health Day photo contest winners!

Opportunities

  • Mastering Medicaid: A workshop for family support professionals

Statewide updates and news

Photo: Stetler Shumway


San Juan nurse-anesthesiologist expands

local treatment options


Stetler Shumway, a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthesiologist (CRNA) at San Juan Hospital and recipient of the Health Care Workforce Financial Assistance Program, has been working on expanding his team’s skills to provide more local services. One key area of focus is his training to place Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter (PICC) lines for patients requiring long-term antibiotics or nutrition.

Photo credit: Jolyn Smith

First place, National Rural Health Day photo contest


8 rural healthcare workers honored for providing impactful care to salt-of-the-earth Utahns


The Rural Health Association of Utah, in partnership with the Utah Department of Health and Human Services, is honoring 8 rural healthcare workers with “Impact Awards” for their efforts to make sure all Utahns have access to quality healthcare services.

A learning collaborative from the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine is available!


The Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine (SMFM) is convening a learning collaborative for health practices and systems involved in designing and/or implementing interventions from the Hypertension in Pregnancy Change Package (HPCP). These groups will focus on improving diagnosis and management of hypertension in pregnancy and during the postpartum period. Participating groups can be anyone who works with pregnant patients. SMFM is looking to engage two learning collaborative cohorts:


  • Hypertension in Pregnancy Learning Collaborative: Private Practice Settings
  • Hypertension in Pregnancy Learning Collaborative: Rural and Other Resource-Limited Practice Settings


We hope to have all interested sites committed by Friday, January 9, 2026. 


If you are interested in joining the learning collaboratives and have questions about the requirements, please contact Taylor Streeter tstreeter@smfm.org and Francesca Montalto fmontalto@smfm.org

Photo credit: Ryan Dennis

Third place, National Rural Health Day photo contest


National Rural Health Day photo contest winners!


A big thank you to everyone who sent in amazing photos! Your pictures truly show the power of nature and the beauty of our state.

  • 1st place: Jolyn Smith
  • 2nd place: Alex Terrill
  • 3rd place: Ryan Dennis


We will keep sharing your beautiful photos all year long, and we appreciate you letting us show off your incredible work!

Opportunities

Mastering Medicaid: A workshop for family support professionals

Thursday, December 11, 9:00 am - 12:00 pm

10 North Main Street, Cedar City, Utah


Join Take Care Utah for the Mastering Medicaid workshop, a valuable training designed specifically for family support professionals.


The workshop will equip you with skills to simplify the Medicaid process and resolve common challenges, ensuring individuals and families can successfully obtain the coverage they need.

Contact us

Monument Valley Amanda De Lucia

Photo credit: Amanda De Lucia


Disclaimer: The Utah Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) may occasionally link to outside sources of information. Utah DHHS and state of Utah do not necessarily endorse the provider of the content and are not responsible for any content published on the external site.