HONESDALE, PA — Wayne Tomorrow! and the Wayne County Commissioners first celebrated National Rural Health Day in November 2020. The community was only a few months out of lockdown from the COVID-19 pandemic and many wanted to recognize the hard work and sacrifice of the health care community.

“National Rural Health Day seemed like the perfect way to draw attention not only to how much we value our local health care providers but the unique opportunities rural communities can offer to health care professionals,” said Mikki Uzupes, community network specialist for Wayne Tomorrow!. 

Uzupes helped plan that first recognition by involving officials from Wayne Memorial Hospital and Health System as well as The Wright Center for Community Health.

The next year, Wayne Tomorrow! and the commissioners expanded the list to include the Himalayan Institute, an international nonprofit based in Bethany that promotes yoga and holistic health. 

That was also the year that Wayne Tomorrow! nominated Wayne Memorial Hospital’s then-CEO David Hoff as 2021 Community Rural Health Leader of the Year. 

Lisa Davis, executive director of the PA Office of Rural Health at Penn State University, not only bestowed the award that year, but returned in 2022 to give the same award to Norma Nocilla of the Wayne Memorial Community Health Centers.

Davis returned to Wayne County for National Rural Health Day for a third time in November, honoring the Wayne County Commissioners with the 2023 National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health Collaborative Award for their efforts to bring the health care community together each year to demonstrate “The Power of Rural.”

Wayne County remains the only Pennsylvania county to proclaim National Rural Health Day on the third Thursday of November. It celebrates  a robust and responsive health care system and the shared efforts to improve the health and vitality of all its citizens, said Uzupes.