Wisconsin rural health leader receives national award

Sterling Heights, Michigan (September 15, 2016) – Penny Black, Rural Health Epidemiologist at the Wisconsin Office of Rural Health, has received the 2016 NOSORH Distinguished Service Award from the National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health (NOSORH). Black received her award at a ceremony on September 7 during the organization’s annual meeting in Boston, MA.

NOSORH was established in 1995 to serve as an influential voice for rural health concerns and promote a healthy rural America through state and community leadership. The organization presents its Distinguished Service Award each year to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to NOSORH. Nominations for the award are accepted each year from NOSORH members and severalnational and federal partners.

John Eich, director at the Wisconsin Office of Rural Health, was one of three people to nominate Black for this award and says, “Penny helps us ground our work in relevant data, plan projects with an eye toward evaluation, rigorously analyze our progress and outcomes, and communicate our ideas with a combination of hard data and helpful visualizations. She has taken our work to the next level. Over the last year, Penny has taken this approach to the national level, helping design and implement two national Data Summits, shaping an EMS System Assessment for any interested state, and developing the curriculum for NOSORH’s Rural Health Data Institute.”