November 20 is Rural Health Day which is observed annually on the third Thursday of November. It’s a day to celebrate the “Power of Rural.” Here in Western New York, our rural communities are great places to live, work, and play. Those communities also have significant challenges with behavioral health, both in occurrence, stigma, and finding support. Spectrum Health is well represented in three key regions here: in Wyoming County, our Counseling Center, Supportive Housing, and Mobile Therapy Unit cover the county with a wide range of services; in southern Erie County, our Springville Counseling has served that area from 1973; and in Cattaraugus County, our ACT team is based in Olean with wide out stretched arms of service.
What is It?
There’s a segment all about our rural communities on in the November episode of Spectrum Health Journey, our podcast. Tom Tharp a clinician in our Wyoming County Counseling Center and Amanda Burkett, the clinical director of our Springville Counseling Center talk about the challenges they see, the rewards, and why they opted to work in rural communities.
For Spectrum Health, Rural Health isn’t just a once a year thing: we’re proud to serve out rural communities every day with a strong commitment to bringing treatment and wellness to everyone.
