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Richard G. Lugar Center for Rural Health
Mission
The current mission of Richard G. Lugar Center for Rural Health (formerly Midwest Center for Rural Health) is
advancing rural health through education, innovation, and collaboration.
By pursuing its mission, the Richard G. Lugar Center for Rural Health ensures increased access among rural populations to
quality health care providers and services. It demonstrates a model for others to emulate and to inspire healthier communities
in other rural areas across the country.
Three key components help the Richard G. Lugar Center for Rural Health achieve its mission. The Richard G. Lugar Center for
Rural Health prepares and trains residents for successful rural practice. The Lugar Center’s Rural Training Track curriculum,
accredited in February ’93, focuses on procedural, hands-on training in the rural environment through the
Union Hospital Family Medicine Residency program. On-site training is
conducted in primary care medicine at three training sites, as well as on-site at Union Hospital. These training facilities
include the Union Hospital-based Family Medicine Center and adjacent hospital in Terre Haute, Indiana; and a federally
designated rural health clinic in Clay County. Clay City Center for Family Medicine Medicine is a model training sites that
provide medical and behavioral health care services to rural Indiana communities.
The Richard G. Lugar Center for Rural Health developed a multidisciplinary model for health care. Multidisciplinary teams,
comprised of physicians, residents, midlevel providers (physician assistants, nurse practitioners), nurses and behavioral health
specialists address patient needs at the three sites in southwestern Indiana. The team also encourages input from advisory
councils, community health officials, schools, allied health professionals, grantors, and other community organizations in
an effort to continually improve patient services.
The Richard G. Lugar Center for Rural Health (formerly MCRH) takes an Innovative approach to health care:
Internships/Fellowships
The Richard G. Lugar Center for Rural Health partners with Indiana State University’s College of Nursing and Counseling
Department, and the Indiana University School of Medicine to provide hands-on, multidisciplinary training for students in the
family practice environment. Fellowship and internship opportunities offer invaluable rural health care experiences to future
professionals on-site at the Clay City rural health clinic training site.
Preceptorship
The Hoosier Rural Preceptorship program, offered to first-year medical students, provides exposure to rural health care and
the unique multidisciplinary model used in our rural health clinic training sites.
Technology/Telemedicine
Availability of information and services is key to reducing the sense of isolation for rural health care providers, while
increasing access to care. Computerized medical records provide efficient access to patient information. Access to medical
resources/databases through the Intranet and Internet provides information at the physician’s fingertips.
Video diagnostic tools, not commonly found in most rural practices, give the multidisciplinary team and the patient the
advantage of keeping some diagnostic procedures close to home.
Telemedicine programs offer opportunities to consult with medical specialists located outside of the community using
Intranet and Internet technology (store and forward) and real-time video technology.
RuralConsult.com, a restricted access Internet-based
program created by the Richard G. Lugar Center for Rural Health, exchanges consult inquiries between family practice physicians
and medical specialists. Currently, Rural Consult has processed over 300 consultations in the areas of dermatology, neurology,
endocrinology, gastroenterology, pediatrics, geriatrics, clinical toxicology, obstetrics and gynecology, and HIV. Other
specialized fields are under development.
Real-time telemedicine consults are conducted on-site at Union Hospital for high-risk pregnancy patients that require an
exam by a perinatologist. This real-time appointment saves the patient a 60-mile drive and provides an important opportunity
for the local obstetrician and specialist to examine and simultaneously talk with the patient. Click here to
browse a demo of the RuralConsult site.
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