Issues confronting rural health care and economic development are many. Both leadership and dynamic local solutions are needed to make strategic connections between and among: community economic development efforts, rural health delivery, rural labor markets and the educational/job training infrastructure.

About the conference program. The two-day events will feature three interconnected sets of sessions/workshops:

(1) A series of plenary sessions will focus on such key policy issues as: economic impact of health care expenditure and changing demographics; latest thinking about "rural" development; the rural health workforce crisis; and their implications for policy. Both Susan Collins and Chellie Pingree have been invited to address the conference. Other Plenary speakers include Charles Colgan of USM, Trish Riley of National Center for State Health Policy, John Fitzsimmons of Maine Technical College System, DOL Commissioner Valerie Landry, Gerald Doeksen of University of Oklahoma, and Brian Dabson of the Corporation for Enterprise Development.

(2) Eleven breakout sessions will help orient participants to health care and economic development issues and strategies, as well as proven practices from the field. These will feature, for example, telemedicine, healthcare and economic development collaborations, examples of affordable/accessible community health plans, innovative ideas about workforce training and management

(3) The third component will focus on community team building. Our hope is to encourage local practitioners (health care and economic development) to attend the conference in teams. Time will be provided during the conference for teams to formulate community strategies and action plan.

COME AND JOIN US AT THE SAMOSET ON DECEMBER 6 AND 7, 2001!