LARAMIE -- A team of Wyoming organizations is inviting everyone involved in safety-net healthcare to attend “The Power of Rural” conference, which will focus on the challenges of healthcare in rural communities. The event will be held in Laramie at the University of Wyoming Conference Center on June 5-7.

The conference is designed for all levels of healthcare professionals, volunteers and interested community members to provide information and resources on meeting the needs of rural and frontier communities through evidence, partnership, and quality.

The conference will feature a keynote by Mary Otto, a Washington Post journalist and author of the book “Teeth.” Otto will highlight the gap between medicine and dentistry. Other session subjects include recognizing intimate partner violence in a healthcare setting, ensuring an AIDS-friendly healthcare environment, HPV vaccine cancer prevention, and community paramedicine and behavioral health.

“This marks the second year we have had the pleasure of collaborating on this conference. It is great to learn from subject matter experts and each other so attendees can take back best practices to their communities. It is easy to become isolated when you work in a rural setting,” said Hannah Wickey, Wyoming Primary Care Association director of operations.

The Wyoming Department of Health (WDH) Office of Rural Health, Wyoming Health Resources Network, Wyoming Center on Aging, Mountain-Pacific Quality Health, Wyoming Hospital Association, Wyoming Primary Care Association and Wyoming Health Council are sponsors.

“I am pleased to provide a presentation from the Studer Group, a national organization that works to create a culture of excellence through healthcare coaching and cultural transformation,” said Kyle Cameron, WDH Office of Rural Health FLEX/SHIP grant program manager.

Half-day pre-conference workshops on Conflict Resolution and the Role Personality Play: True Colors along with Screening and Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment SBIRT are available on June 5 from 1-4:30. Anyone can attend these workshops.

The registration cost for the two pre-conference workshops is $35 each. Early bird registration for the full conference is $90; after May 24 the conference rate is $110. Breakfast and lunch are included on June 6 and 7 plus a speaker reception the evening of June 5. For more information and to register, visit www.wypca.org.

 

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