Wellness and Health
Meeting People Where They Are
Imagining the future and seizing opportunity through the Rural Health Transformation Program BY KATHLEEN S. MATT, PH.D.
WITH THE RECENT AWARDING of the Rural Health Transformation Program, we now have an incredible opportunity to change health care in a way that improves the lives and health of all Delawareans. We can best capitalize on this opportunity by focusing on expanding and strengthening our health care workforce at all levels. This will improve access to health care and decrease the time to receive care, whether in an emergency room or when scheduling a doctor’s visit. We can also use these funds to realize Delaware’s dream of having its own medical school, which will help to further enhance the health care workforce and create an economic engine for growing biomedicine in the state. As a state of neighbors, and the eighth-fastest-growing state in the country, 50
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with the sixth-oldest population in the nation, we need to work together to improve health for everyone. This must start with expanding our health care workforce in a thoughtful, intentional, and purposeful way to deliver comprehensive, patient-centered care. It is important to build a workforce at all levels, from technicians to physicians, and across all disciplines and specialties. All types of health care workers need to be trained as teams to deliver accessible, affordable, and results-driven health care. We need to create career pipelines that help individuals enter the health care profession at any stage, from high school through technical training, colleges, and graduate school. Education and training of health care professionals are expensive, and costs can be a barrier to those who wish to May/June 2026
| DELAWARE BUSINESS
4/28/26 2:34 PM