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January 2015 | Read this issue and more at www.healthandwellnessmagazine.net |
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POLITICS OF HEALTH
Kentucky Health
By Fiona Young-Brown
Two Kentuckians have been honored recently for their contributions
to health care:
Congratulations must go
to Ernie Scott, director of the
Kentucky Office of Rural Health,
who received the 2014 Emerging
Leader award from the National
Organization of State Offices of
Rural Health. The annual award
is presented to someone who has
demonstrated leadership, initiative,
and commitment to rural health.
Scott took over as director in 2013.
Congratulations are also due to
Carrie Banahan, executive director of the Kentucky Health Benefit
Exchange (Kynect). Governing
magazine named her one of nine
2014 Public Officials of the Year.
She was chosen “for her tireless
work overseeing the creation, development and promotion of Kynect.”
Kentucky is not known for its
excellence in health stats; the state
has more lung cancer cases than any
other state. But a new $7 million
grant is hoping to change that. The
Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation’s
Bridging Cancer Care initiative has
provided the funding for Kentucky
LEADS Collaborative, a joint program involving the Universities of
Kentucky and Louisville along with
the Lung Cancer Alliance. LEADS
stands for Lung Cancer, Education,
Awareness, Detection, Survivorship.
The grant will be u