ASHLAND —
Quality health care in rural eastern Kentucky has taken a giant step forward with the opening of the Center for Health Education and Research in Morehead.
A joint project of Morehead State University, the University of Kentucky and St. Claire Medical Center in Morehead, the center on St. Claire’s campus will greatly improve the quality of health care in this region in a number of different ways. Among them are:
-- It will allow medical students in the UK College of Medicine’s Rural Physician Leadership Program to complete their final two years of training in Morehead. As the Pikeville College of Osteopathic Medicine has already shown, doctors who receive their training in eastern Kentucky are more likely to practice in this region. With osteopaths graduating in Pikeville and medical doctors soon to be completing their studies in Morehead, the serious shortage of medical care professionals in many rural counties is being effectively addressed.
-- Research at the center will concentrate on the health problems that particularly plague this region, including diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, high rates of smoking, and some types of cancer. As Gov. Steve Beshear said at the opening of the new center, the 10 least healthy counties in Kentucky are all rural and nine of them are in the eastern part of the state. That should give researchers at the center both the incentive and the passion to seek better ways to treat these illnesses and maybe even find cures for them. While Morehead State is not primarily a research university, the University of Kentucky is and much of its research on rural health issues will be moved to Morehead.
-- The center also will train nurses and a wide-range of medical technicians, many of whom will likely stay in the region. The center is an excellent recruiting tool for those seeking careers in health care.
-- The center can boost economic development in an area where good-paying jobs are scarce. Access of quality medical care is one of the things companies look for when seeking communities in which to locate, and the center will greatly improve medical care in the region.
Never before have a land-grant university, a regional university and a non-profit hospital corporation formed a partnership to create something like the Center for Health Education and Research. Their combined efforts will benefit this region for generations to come.
Editorials
A giant step
Center holds promise of greatly imporving regions health care
- Editorials
-
-
Focus on music
There will be no new trophies for winning marching band competitions for the Boyd County High School band. Nor will band members be spending as many summer days in the hot sun in band camp and autumn Saturdays taking long bus drives to compete in band festivals in distant communities.
-
Memorial Day
Unlike our other wars, the American people were never asked to sacrifice for the war in Iraq and the one still ongoing in Afghanistan. They have been wars fought by an all-voluntary military and by the “weekend soldiers” in the National Guard and in the Army, Navy and Air Force Reserve
-
Still more cuts
If you believe the cuts mandated by the two-year state budget that will take effect July 1 will have little impact on services, consider this.
-
Earmarks again?
Immediately, following the midterm elections of 2010 which saw Republicans regain control of the House of Representatives and capture seats in the U.S. Senate, Republican leaders in Congress announced they had heard the voice of the voters and vowed to cease using “earmarks,” the name given to appropriations slipped into bills by influential legislators without a vote.
-
Best in the nation
It may surprise many readers that Newsweek’s “best high school in America” is located right here in Kentucky and is open to selected students throughout the state, but then the Carol Martin Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green is hardly your typical high school. In fact, it would be impossible for even the best public high schools to emulate the amazing success of students at the Gatton Academy.
-
After the vote
We offer today a few reflections on the messages voters sent in Tuesday’s primary election in Kentucky.
-
A mild winter
As we approach the Memorial Day weekend, long hailed as the unofficial start of the summer vacation season, we pause to reflect upon the winter that wasn’t.
-
Devices banned
Emergency breathing devices that tests have proven unreliable are being phased out under a directive issued by the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration. However, MSHA has given mine operators more than 18 months to remove all the air packs from underground mines.
-
A free weekend
In an effort to promote increased recreational use of the two lakes in the Daniel Boone National Forest, the U.S. Forest Service will offer free fishing and boating during the first weekend in June.
-
Ho-hum election
Psst! Want to know a secret? There’s a primary election Tuesday. And it’s right here in Kentucky! However, there has been so little interest in this election, that Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes, the state’s top election official, is predicting that only betwixen 10 and 12 percent of the state’s eligible voters will take the time to go to the polls tomorrow.
- More Editorials Headlines
-
Focus on music
90 Guns Seized, Dozens Arrested in Oakland
Raw Video: Hail Storm Batters Oklahoma City
6-Year-Old Going to National Spelling Bee
California's Foie Gras Ban About to Begin
Video Essay: Funky Winkerbean Comic Turns 40
Hurricane Andrew Remembered, 20 Years Later
Judge's Ruling Halts Tenn. Mosque Construction
Romney in Las Vegas on Texas Primary Day
Sister Says She Reported Brother in Patz Killing
Even Fla. Police Shocked by Face-Mauling Attack
Angry Birds Spreading Their Wings
Witness Describes Fla. Face-chewing Attack
