Tennessee Rural Health Care Center of Excellence

05/28/2026

Mark your calendar for June 5, when Jessica Snowden, MD, Vice Chancellor for Research at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, will offer an important webinar: Grant-Writing Essentials: Aligning Your Proposal for Success. This one-hour webinar, to be presented at 12:00 CST, will provide practical guidance on developing competitive grant proposals for a broad range of funding opportunities. Learn more and register at https://rural-health.uthsc.edu/

05/27/2026

Join us for Mobile Mondays! This four-part webinar series is designed to help mobile health programs strengthen their impact through practical learning and peer-informed strategies. The first session, at 12:00 pm CST on June 1, will feature Kait Guild and Michael Lawler. Kait is the Assistant Director of Mobile Health Map at Harvard Medical School, where she leads national efforts to strengthen mobile healthcare through evaluation, research, technical assistance, and strategic partnerships. Michael is the Program Manager for Mobile Health Map and The Family Van. In this role, he provides technical assistance to mobile clinics across the country and manages Mobile Health Map’s relationship with website developers to ensure the platform meets the evolving needs of mobile health programs. Register for the webinar at https://rural-health.uthsc.edu/

05/20/2026

Great news for rural organizations: The Tennessee Rural Health Care Center of Excellence has issued a Request for Proposal for telehealth equipment expansion! A minimum of four telehealth equipment packages will be awarded through a competitive review process. Up to $25,000 will be provided per award. The deadline is July 3. Learn more on our website:

Request for Proposal The Request for Proposal for Telehealth Equipment Expansion has been issued by the Tennessee Rural Health Care Center of Excellence at UT Health Science Center. A minimum of four (4) Telehealth Equipment Packages will be awarded through a competitive review process. Up to $25,00...

05/19/2026

There is still time to register for our next webinar, which will take place at noon CST tomorrow, May 20! Dr. Simpfronia Taylor, director of Community Grants and Programs at the University of Tennessee at Martin Ripley Center, will present on her work with the HUB. A 2025 Healthcare Resiliency grant awardee, the HUB is a Lauderdale County Connection Resource. Register on our website at

Tennessee Rural Health Care Center of Excellence Members of the operational team for the Tennessee Rural Health Care Center of Excellence at UT Health Science Center recently gathered at the inaugural Center of Excellence Conference. Vision Empowering rural communities for a healthier Tennessee. Mis...

05/15/2026

Director Matt McDaniel visited West Tennessee health leaders over the last two weeks. In Crockett County, he visited the Crockett County Health Council in Alamo where he met Council Chair Sarah Poole and Allie Mallard, the health educator for Crockett County. He also visited the Chester County, TN Health Council and met with officials including Council Vice-Chair Mia McNeal; Dr. Raven Richardson, health council coordinator for the West Tennessee region; County Health Educator Danielle McHaney; and Chester County Mayor Barry Hutcherson.

05/13/2026

Mark your calendar on May 20 for our next webinar, when Dr. Simpfronia Taylor, director of Community Grants and Programs at the University of Tennessee at Martin Ripley Center, will present on her work with the HUB. A 2025 Healthcare Resiliency grant awardee, the HUB is a Lauderdale County Connection Resource. The webinar will be from 12:00 pm- 1:00 pm on May 20. Dr. Taylor will discuss the background of the project, including the partnership between The Betah Group (Dr. Taylor’s non-profit organization) and the Lauderdale County Health Council, and how this work has helped achieve the goal of enabling Lauderdale County residents to live healthier, more resilient lives. Register on our website at https://rural-health.uthsc.edu/

05/08/2026

Meet our Committee Members!
Clint Cummins, MHA, is chief executive officer of the Memphis Medical Society and is a member of the Steering Committee for the Center of Excellence. A native of Savannah, Tennessee, Cummins has held the executive role at the medical society for more than nine years. He is an alumnus of the University of Tennessee at Martin, and the University of Memphis, where he earned a master’s degree in health administration.
In his role at the medical society, Cummins wears many hats including overseeing Project West Tennessee, which coordinates specialty care for uninsured West Tennesseans. “I have been able to spend half of my life living in rural communities and half in urban/suburban communities. Your zip code should never dictate the quality of your healthcare, but the reality is that it does. We have to create and empower healthcare access and education for rural citizens, so that when they do access the system they are in the healthiest situation possible.”

05/01/2026

Our recent trip to East Tennessee included several great visits. Director Matt McDaniel, MPH, visited with the leadership of The Free Medical Clinic, a grant recipient in Oak Ridge. Director of Operations Jessica Massengill and Executive Director Billy Edmonds shared their plans to turn the old Armory into an expanded clinic. In Knoxville, McDaniel and Dr. Wendy Likes met with the leadership of River Valley Health, a federally qualified health clinic network that stretches across East Tennessee. Dr. Parinda Khatri (far left) is the CEO of River Valley and is a member of the Center of Excellence Steering Committee

04/30/2026

Save the date for our next webinar on May 20! Dr. Simpfronia Taylor, director of Community Grants and Programs at the University of Tennessee at Martin Ripley Center, will present on her work with the HUB, a Lauderdale County Connection Resource that was a 2025 Healthcare Resiliency grant awardee. The webinar will be from 12:00 pm- 1:00 pm. Dr. Taylor will discuss the background of the project and how this work has helped achieve the goal of enabling Lauderdale County residents to live healthier, more resilient lives. Learn more and register at

Tennessee Rural Health Care Center of Excellence Members of the Steering Committee for the Center of Excellence gathered for their first meeting in Nashville. Vision Empowering rural communities for a healthier Tennessee. Mission To strengthen health care across Tennessee by actively involving rural...

04/28/2026

Director Matt McDaniel, MPH, spoke recently at the West Tennessee Health Council Community of Practice meeting about the Tennessee Rural Health Care Center of Excellence and the importance of county health councils. These health councils, which have been active in all 95 counties over the last 20 years, have the power to be vital partners in generating public health change at the local level. Made up of community members from a wide range of sectors, health councils know their communities and are positioned to identify the most pressing needs in their community and work toward solutions that make sense for their communities.

04/23/2026

The momentum is building to empower rural communities for a healthier Tennessee. Read all about the inaugural conference hosted by the Tennessee Rural Health Care Center of Excellence at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center here: https://news.uthsc.edu/tennessee-leaders-gather-in-memphis-to-chart-the-future-of-rural-health/