Eastern Shore Rural Health honored at National Conference for Agricultural Worker Health

Photo caption (left to right): Eastern Shore Rural Health CEO Matt Clay, Director of Quality Jessica Bonniwell and Outreach Coordinator Juan Gomez accept a 2022 Outstanding Migrant Health Center Award from the National Association of Community Health Centers in Denver May 2.

Eastern Shore Rural Health System, Inc. was honored at the Conference for Agricultural Worker Health on May 2^nd, in Denver, CO.  The Conference for Agricultural Worker Health, sponsored by the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC), is the only annual conference dedicated solely to the health and well-being of America’s migratory and seasonal agricultural workers and their families. Rural Health was honored for outstanding contributions in migrant health. The awards this year hold special significance as Migrant and Community Health Centers join to celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the Migrant Health Program.

“We take pride in recognizing colleagues who have done so much on behalf of our migrant and seasonal agricultural workers,” said Rachel Gonzales-Hanson, interim President and CEO of the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC). “Each in their own way has shown what it takes to make health care meaningful and responsive for this vital part of the nation’s workforce under extraordinary challenges. These honorees have lifted barriers to care and advanced equity during an unprecedented global pandemic. We celebrate their service, courage, and contributions to the Community Health Center Movement.”

Eastern Shore Rural Health was among a group of migrant health leaders and organizations receiving awards at the national conference. Rural Health received the 2022 Outstanding Migrant Health Center Award.

Community and Migrant Heath Centers serve approximately 22 percent (nearly one million) of agricultural workers and their families currently living in the U.S. Throughout the pandemic, health centers have responded to the health needs of the nation’s essential agricultural workers who harvest the food on our table and who have suffered disproportionately higher rates of infection and death from the COVID-19 virus. 

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