The University of Illinois College of Medicine Rockford’s National Center for Rural Health Professions presented a 2021 Rural Health Hero Award to Randall W. Dauby, CPA, chief executive officer of Pinckneyville Community Hospital, as part of their National Rural Health Day celebration.
“Throughout his career, Randy Dauby has been a tireless advocate for rural health workforce needs,” says Hana Hinkle, PhD, interim director of the National Center for Rural Health Professions.
Hinkle notes that Dauby and Pinckneyville Community Hospital have been a long-time partner of the college’s Rural Medical Education Program, helping to train medical students who are interested in practicing in a rural area.
Pinckneyville Community Hospital also recently partnered with the Illinois Area Health Education Centers Network Program of the National Center for Rural Health Professions to become a host site for the South Central AHEC Center. This center serves 16 counties with programs to give young people a head start toward a health profession and to help current health professionals advance in their careers.
The National Center for Rural Health Professions is located on the University of Illinois Chicago’s Health Sciences Campus-Rockford, 1601 Parkview Ave., and strives to meet the health care needs of rural residents and their communities in Illinois, around the nation and throughout the world. Approved by the Illinois Board of Higher Education since 2003, this UIC College of Medicine Rockford center has programs and collaborative partnerships that have become successful models for education, service, research and policy related to rural health involving multiple health professions. For more information, visit ncrhp.uic.edu.