Washington, DC – Early last week, Congressman John E. Peterson, (R-Pleasantville), was presented with the 2008 National Rural Health Association (NRHA) Legislative Award for his resolute work on providing affordable and quality health care to rural Americans.
“One of the very first actions I took as a newly sworn in member of Congress back in 1997 was to join the House Rural Health Care Caucus. It’s an invaluable group of members, all committed to the common goal of seeing that Washington upholds its commitment to the diverse, and often unique, needs of rural Americans,” said Peterson, who serves on the panel that sets the level of funding for the Health and Human Services Department.
Peterson was unanimously voted to receive this award by NRHA’s committee due to his many years of friendship to the rural health community.
“Representing the second most rural district east of the Mississippi, and living my entire life in rural Pennsylvania, I have dedicated my legislative career to ensuring that our most rural regions remain competitive in the classroom, the workforce, and especially, the hospitals,” said Peterson, who chaired the health committee while serving in the state senate. “I want to thank NRHA for their steadfastness on expanding health care availability to rural communities. It’s been a true honor, and a pleasure, to work with this dedicated organization over the years.”
NRHA noted that Peterson’s work during the Fiscal Year 2008 Appropriation process in protecting funding for rural health was a key victory for health care providers and recipients in rural America.
The NRHA is a national nonprofit membership organization with more than 18,000 members that provides leadership on rural health issues. The association’s mission is to improve the health and wellbeing of rural Americans and to provide leadership on rural health issues through advocacy, communications, education, research and leadership. The NRHA membership is made up of a diverse collection of individuals and organizations, all of whom share the common bond of an interest in rural health.