Rice County

Last updated January 2012

Rice County is served by the Southwest Office of KU Medical Center's Area Health Education Centers (AHECs) in Garden City, 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

• 6 students from Rice County are currently studying at KU Medical Center
• Rice County is part of the Southcentral Medical Education Network with Greg Thomas, MD, and Marla Ullom-Minnich, MD, residents of McPherson and Moundridge, respectively, serving as the Medical Education Co-Directors. 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

• 14 KU Medical Center graduates live and/or practice in Rice County
• 2 health care providers have been placed in Rice County through the Kansas Recruitment & Retention Center, which provides placement assistance to rural health organizations and seeks to enhance the quality and quantity of health care professionals in rural Kansas since 2003.
• 3 Rice County physicians received funding through the Kansas Bridging Plan, a loan-forgiveness program offered to primary care residents who agree to practice in rural Kansas since 1991.
• 1 Rice County employer exhibited with 2011 Kansas Career Opportunities, which is designed to introduce medical students, residents and other health care professionals to rural communities seeking health care providers.
• 14 health care professionals from Rice County participated in continuing education courses and conferences from July 2010 to June 2011.

Researching to Improve 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

• 1 outreach clinic visit with a Rice County resident and KU Medical Center health care providers were made in 2011.
• 6 visits with Rice County residents by KU Medical Center health care providers via telemedicine, an interactive video technology that connects providers and patients when distance separates the two, in 2011. To learn more about KU Medical Center's telemedicine services, click here.