Rawlins County

Last updated January 2012

Rawlins County is served by the Northwest Office of KU Medical Center's Area Health Education Centers (AHECs) in Hays, which provides quality professional education for health care providers and serves the eastern part of the state through health screenings, presentations and clinics.

Enhancing Student Education

• 1 student from Rawlins County is currently studying at KU Medical Center
• Rawlins County is part of the Northwest Medical Education Network with Michael Machen, MD, a resident of Quinter, serving as the Medical Education Director. The medical education director helps coordinate the School of Medicine's efforts to mentor, train and place physicians throughout Kansas.

Strengthening the Health Care Workforce

• 6 KU Medical Center graduates live and/or practice in Rawlins County
• 21 health care professionals from Rawlins County participated in continuing education courses and conferences from July 2010 to June 2011.

Researching to Improve Health

• Hospitalization has been identified as a teachable moment in which patients may be more likely to quit smoking. Rawlins County is one 27 counties in Kansas to participate in Kan Quit II, an innovative research intervention that provides smoking cessation counseling, treatment and case management services to evaluate the effectiveness of the smoking cessation services. The project is led by Edward Ellerbeck, MD, MPH, and is sponsored by the National Cancer Institute and the National Institutes of Health.
• Occupational therapists at KU Medical Center provide professional support and development for Kansas' Infant-Toddler Services. Working in every county, KUMC professionals evaluate effectiveness of early intervention services provided to families. Principal investigators Winnie Dunn, PhD, OTR, FAOTA, and Ellen Pope, Med, OTR, facilitate this ongoing project with the Kansas Department of Health & Environment.

Advancing Health Care Access

• 2 outreach clinic visits with Rawlins County residents and KU Medical Center health care providers were made in 2011.
• 56 Kansans received free medical attention through preventive screenings and events hosted in Rawlins County with support from KU Medical Center in 2011.

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