UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Lisa Davis, director of the Pennsylvania Office of Rural Health and outreach associate professor of health policy and administration at Penn State University Park, was named the recipient of two awards for her outstanding contributions to rural health in Pennsylvania and across the nation.
Davis was presented with the 2024 Calico Quality Leadership Award and the Rural Sociological Society Distinguished Service to Rural Life Award.
“Over the last thirty years, I have had the privilege of working with the smartest and most passionate colleagues,” Davis said. “To receive these two recognitions was an incredible surprise and enormous honor. I hope to continue to earn them, and the respect of those for whom I advocate.”
The Calico Quality Leadership Award is presented annually to an outstanding rural health leader by the Technical Assistance and Services Center, a program of the National Rural Health Resource Center, and by the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy. Davis received the award on July 18, 2024, from Tom Morris, associate administrator for rural health policy in the Health Resources and Services Administration, during a national rural hospital meeting in Washington, D.C. Morris noted Davis’s long-standing support for rural heath equity through policy, outreach, education and programming.
The Rural Sociological Society Distinguished Service to Rural Life Award recognizes a person or organization that has made an outstanding contribution to the enhancement of rural life, rural people or rural policy. Davis was presented with the award at the 2024 Rural Sociological Society Conference on July 26, 2024 in Madison, Wisconsin. She was acknowledged for serving as a leader in recognizing the critical importance of rural health across the state; the need for concerted, coordinated action; and for her passion, conviction and deep knowledge about the health of rural people and places in Pennsylvania and far beyond.
Davis began her career at the Pennsylvania Office of Rural Health (PORH) in 1994 as the office’s first full-time staff person and stepped into the role of director in 1999. PORH strives to be one of the most effective state offices, and to lead statewide and national initiatives to increase access to health care services in rural areas through technical assistance, partnership development, policy and education.
Davis sits on a wide range of boards and task forces in Pennsylvania and across the nation to advance rural health and collaborates with local, state and national partners to advance rural health policy and practice. She holds a master of health administration degree from the Penn State Department of Health Policy and Administration.
“Lisa has spent her career working to improve health and health care in rural Pennsylvania,” said Chris Hollenbeak, department head of health policy and administration. “These awards are fitting recognition for her service and leadership. I’m proud to be her colleague.”
PORH is located in the Department of Health Policy and Administration in the Penn State College of Health and Human Development. It provides expertise in the areas of rural health, agricultural health and safety, oral health and community and economic development.
PORH was formed in 1991 as a partnership between the federal government, the commonwealth of Pennsylvania and Penn State. The office is one of 50 state offices of rural health in the nation funded through the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Pennsylvania Department of Health. The state offices of rural health are charged with being a source of coordination, technical assistance and networking; partnership development; and assisting in the recruitment and retention of health care providers.