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1991.08.09 :  Advisory Committee on Rural Health

Contact: Sue Bernstein (301) 443-3376
August 9, 1991

        HHS Secretary Louis W. Sullivan, M.D., today announced the
reappointment of former Iowa Governor Robert D. Ray as chairperson
of the National Advisory Committee on Rural Health.
        Secretary Sullivan also announced eight new appointees to
the committee, which Ray has chaired since its creation in 1987.
        "Bob Ray's pioneering leadership has given prominence to
rural health needs and generated new approaches to health care and
its financing," said Dr. Sullivan in announcing the decision to
appoint Ray to a second term.  "I am delighted that Bob will
continue to be available to the department as a key adviser."  
        Formed to advise the secretary on rural health problems,
the 18-member committee of nationally recognized experts has
authored three annual reports and recommended changes in national
policy to permit more innovation and integration of rural health
services.
        While governor of Iowa (1969-1983), Ray created the
Governor's Commission on Health Care Costs.  Its recommendations
have since served as blueprints for many national cost-containment
strategies.       Ray, who is currently president and chief
executive officer of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Iowa, has
chaired the National Leadership Commission on Health Care.  He is
a former chairman of the National Governor's Association and has
also chaired the National Institute for Rural Health Policy. 

        The eight new members named to the committee began their
terms July 1.  Appointed to three-year terms are: 
     
     --   Robert L. Harman, administrator of Grant Memorial
          Hospital in Petersburg, W.Va.
     
     --   Dr. Marlene A. Harvey, chairman of the department of
          general practice, Kirksville College of Osteopathic
          Medicine in Kirksville, Mo.
     
     --   Dr. David S. Pratt, attending physician at the Mary
          Imogene Bassett Hospital in Cooperstown, N.Y.
     
     --   Roger T. Williams, associate professor and chairman of
          health and human issues at the University of Wisconsin-
          Madison.
     
     Appointed to four-year terms are:
     
     --   Phyllis E. Bernard, professor in the school of law at the
          Oklahoma City University in Oklahoma.
     
     --   Dr. M. Joycelyn Elders, director of the Arkansas
          Department of Health in Little Rock, Ark.
     
     --   Kathleen Marquart, physician assistant at the Oklahoma
          City Indian Clinic in Oklahoma.
     
     --   Joyce Ann Walker, associate professor for the Minnesota
          Extension Service in St. Paul, Minn.

        Dr. Sullivan said the eight new appointees offer a
"wonderful range of experience" in all facets of rural health care
-- administration, occupational health and safety, mental health,
law and financing, as well as firsthand knowledge of rural health
care delivery.




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