Kris Sparks Elected President-Elect of National Rural Health Association

November 13, 2009 -- Sterling Heights, Michigan

The National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health (NOSORH) congratulates Kris Sparks, director of the Washington State Office of Rural Health and a long-time NOSORH leader, on being elected president-elect of the National Rural Health Association (NRHA) by the organization’s members. Sparks will serve a one-year term as president-elect before assuming her responsibilities as NRHA’s leader in 2011.

Sparks has been working in the rural health arena since 1990 when she joined Rural Health Programs in the Washington Office of Rural Health. She is a past president of the National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health (NOSORH) and still serves on NOSORH’s Board of Directors as its State Rural Health Association Liaison. She is also past president of the Washington Rural Health Association and has served as a health panel advisor to the Rural Policy Institute.
Within NRHA, Sparks currently represents the Statewide Health Resources Constituency Group on NRHA’s Health Policy Congress and serves as a Washington Rural Health Association representative on NRHA’s State Association Council.

As part of her campaign platform, Sparks indicated she planned to continue NRHA’s extraordinary grass roots approach to help keep “rural” at the forefront of national health reform and other healthcare-related debates. “NRHA has been very effective in getting the rural voice heard in the health reform debate,” Sparks says. Using members in every state to connect with their Congress people has been key in this grass roots effort. I look forward to continuing to use the membership to address critical national issues.”

Sparks’ selection continues the strong involvement of NOSORH members on the NRHA Board of Trustees. Denny Berens (Nebraska) will serve as president of the organization in 2010 and Sandra Durick (South Dakota) currently serves as its treasurer. Kristin Juliar (Montana) and Graham Adams (South Carolina) serve as chairs of the Frontier Constituency Group and State Office Council, respectively.

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For additional information, please contact NOSORH Executive Director Teryl Eisinger at teryle@nosorh.org or (586) 739-9940 or NOSORH Communications Coordinator Bill Hessert at billh@nosorh.org or (814) 308-8697.