Events

Upcoming Events

2025 Illinois Rural and Small-Town Health Summit 
Health Care Workforce: Learnings and Transformation in a Post-Pandemic Environment

October 15, 2025 | 7:15am - 4:15pm

The 2025 Illinois Rural and Small-Town Health Summit will convene key stakeholders to discuss innovative solutions to sustain and enhance the rural health care workforce. This year’s summit will focus on lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic and strategies to move forward through collaboration, implementation and impactful change.

Registration details coming soon.
 

Past Events

Event: 2023 Illinois Rural Health Summit: Exploring Gender Health Equity Through Policy
October 10, 2023

Keynote Speakers Include:

• Paula Basta, MDiv, Director, Illinois Department on Aging
• Kim Hunt, MUP, MPP, Executive Director, Pride Action Tank, AIDS Foundation Chicago
• Brian C. Johnson, JD, MBA, CEO, Equality Illinois

Topics Include:

• Gender-Affirming Care
• Stigma
• Rural OB Closures
• Inclusive Education for Providers
• Stories from Those Who Lived It

Click to download the full agenda here.
Watch the recording of this event here.

2022 Innovating Illinois Rural Health Series:

Event: Innovating Illinois Rural Health Summit
October 27, 2022

The 2022 Innovating Illinois Rural Health Summit convened in Springfield on October 27, 2022, and featured a local, statewide and national perspective discussing topics such as maternal and infant health disparities, children and youth mental health, the role of rural hospitals, building a rural health workforce and rural opioid use. The Summit facilitated the exchange of knowledge, fostered innovative ideas and created a pathway for rural health improvement.

Special thanks to 2022 Innovating Illinois Rural Health Summit Supporters:
Janssen, Illinois Critical Access Hospital Network (ICAHN), Illinois Farm Bureau, Illinois Area Health Education Centers (IL AHEC), Walmart, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois, and Illinois Vaccinates Against COVID-19 (IVAC), a project by the Illinois Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Watch the recordings of this event:

Part 1
Welcome 
Building a Healthier Rural Illinois: Challenges and Opportunities
Medicaid in Action: Addressing Maternal and Infant Health Disparities

Part 2 
Putting Children First: Mental Health and Wellness in Communities

Part 3 
The Role of a Rural Hospital: How Hospitals Impact Community Health
The Future of the Healthcare Workforce: Educating a New Generation

Part 4 
Rural Opioid Use: Where We Are and the Path Forward
Closing Remarks

Webinar: The Award-Winning Model of Healthy Hillsboro
July 2022

Innovative local partnerships are needed to create sustainable health improvements in rural communities. The Healthy Hillsboro model has pulled together a community hospital, an academic medical department and a health-focused corporate philanthropy to create community connection, project design and funding needed to successfully move the dial on mental and physical health. Learn how this award-winning project is improving social determinants of health and quality of life in Hillsboro, Illinois, through collaborations with local school districts and community organizations. Watch the recording of this webinar.

Webinar: Innovations in Rural Healthcare 
May 2022

The Honorable Eric D. Hargan, former deputy secretary, US Department of Health and Human Services and Dr. Sameer Vohra, Chair, SIU Medicine Department of Population Science and Policy discussed chronic disease, access to care and public policy impacting rural health in Illinois. Watch the recording of this webinar.

COVID-19 and Rural Health Webinar Series:

Transforming the Health of Rural Illinois (April 2022) 
Webinar

COVID-19 and Rural Housing and Homelessness (December 2021)
Webinar

COVID-19 and the Rural Opioid Epidemic (November 2021)
Webinar

COVID-19 and the Rural Health Workforce (October 2021)
Webinar

COVID-19 and Rural Children's Growth and Development (September 2021)
Webinar

COVID-19 and Rural Nutrition and Fitness (August 2021)
Webinar

COVID-19 and Public Health Systems (July 2021)
Webinar

COVID-19 and Rural Mental Health (May 2021)
Webinar

COVID-19 and an Aging Rural Population (April 2021)
Webinar

2018 Illinois Rural Health Summit

The 2018 Illinois Rural Health Summit, sponsored by SIU School of Medicine Department of Population Science and Policy, Paul Simon Public Policy Institute, UIC School of Public Health, SIU School of Medicine Center for Rural Health and Social Service Development and the Illinois Department of Public Health, convened an influential group of rural health experts and stakeholders in Springfield on August 6-7, 2018. The two-day event gathered information and inspiration to begin drafting and executing a blueprint to improve the health of residents in rural Illinois. Learn more.