The Rural Wisconsin Health Cooperative is excited to announce its newest initiative – The Community Economic Development (CED) Program! This program is founded on the belief that rural hospitals can only be as economically viable as their rural communities. Through this initiative RWHC will work to bolster the vitality and sustainability of rural Wisconsin communities for both the health of the community and the health of the RWHC provider within that community.

The Community Economic Development Program is meant to be a resource for all RWHC members. The program aims to:

• Increase rural hospital engagement in local community economic development efforts
• Increase the effectiveness of rural hospital engagement with local community economic development efforts
• Bring a rural health perspective into statewide community economic development efforts
• Bring a statewide community economic development perspective into rural healthcare

In order to reach these goals, the Community Economic Development Program will be offering:

• Professional development trainings for RWHC members focused on CED topics
• Community Economic Analyses of interested members’ communities through a partnership with UW Extension for facilitation
• Compiling and disseminating relevant local economic data for RWHC members
• Developing a toolkit of effective CED strategies for member use
• Serving as a liaison to Wisconsin’s existing network of economic development professionals and resources
• Acting as an accessible resource for members on community economic development issues as they organically arise

As this is a new initiative, members are encouraged to reach out to the contact below to express interest in engaging with the program’s offerings or propose suggestions on useful services they would like to see in the CED program. 

CONTACT:

Marie Barry
mbarry@rwhc.com