Access to Care Community of Practice Event: December 2, 2026

https://events.gcc.teams.microsoft.com/event/a736b713-e328-4c6d-939e-69c02de003ae@d58addea-5053-4a80-8499-ba4d944910df?source=copyLinkLegacyShareLinkDialog&utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery Access to Care Community of Practice Event: December 2, 2026 The Region 6 Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH) is excited to announce the next convening of the Access to Care Community of Practice! This free event is open to all partners interested in joining and participating in this new regional peer-to-peer learning initiative. Meetings are held quarterly and feature innovations in care delivery in rural or low-access settings. We hope you will join us on December 2nd from 1 - 2 PM CT / 12 - 1 PM MT! During the December 2nd event, Dr. Bala Simon, Deputy Chief Medical Officer & Chronic Disease Director at the Arkansas Department of Health (ADH), will discuss ADH's innovative approaches to improving access to care in rural Arkansas using braided funding and a robust statewide presence. Arkansas is one of the most rural and socioeconomically challenged states in the nation. Arkansas faces a myriad of health challenges and access to care issues, especially among its predominantly rural residents. In 2023, following the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Arkansas Department of Health (ADH) made addressing access to care a priority through its State Health Improvement Plan. This step led to an intentional, coordinated, multi-year effort to improve access to care through ADH's local health units and health systems using braided funding. This presentation will cover several of these innovative statewide initiatives, including deploying blood pressure kiosks at ADH's local health units, employing wellness counselors in each public health region, and establishing the state's first public health and general preventive medicine residency program at ADH.