Looking Back But Leaning Forward: New Opportunities and Challenges for North Carolina's Rural Communities

Rural North Carolina is as diverse as it is beautiful. Each community, county, and region presents a unique set of challenges and opportunities in maintaining and improving the health of its people. Forty-five years ago, Jim Bernstein and other leaders in the state understood that in order to provide access to care and equalize the chances rural North Carolinians have to thrive, a focused approach was necessary. And so it began: through the efforts of these leaders, the first Office of Rural Health was born in North Carolina. There is much to celebrate this year and there is much work ahead. Rural North Carolina is celebrated because of the engagement of rural citizens in their communities and their grit and resourcefulness in tough times and good times. This volume of the North Carolina Medical Journal (NCMJ) is dedicated to those leaders, rural providers, and their communities as they strive to make the best of whatever situation they find themselves in. This is also an opportunity for each of us to consider and learn from the past and bring our best thinking to the future.