Lynette Dickson, MS, LRD, program director at the Center for Rural Health at the University of North Dakota (UND) School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Grand Forks, has been elected president of the National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health (NOSORH).  The group’s membership includes representatives from all 50 state offices of rural health, with an agenda that promotes a healthy rural America through state and national leadership.

Dickson, elected by her peers to this three-year post, has served on the NOSORH board and as the organization’s treasurer.  As president, she will provide leadership for a rural health policy platform as well as build partnerships with other organizations that advocate on behalf of rural health issues.      

Dickson is program director for the North Dakota State Office of Rural Health, an affiliate of NOSORH.  She directs grant programs which provide support for rural health information technology programs.  She also serves as the planning committee chair for the annual Dakota Conference on Rural and Public Health and as chair of the North Dakota Health Information Technology Steering Committee.

“It’s to North Dakota’s credit that one of our own is at the helm of one of the nation’s leading rural health organizations,” said Mary Wakefield, PhD, RN, FAAN, director of the Center for Rural Health, Grand Forks.  “She’s an important and strategic link between North Dakota’s rural health care issues and concerns and the nation’s rural health agenda.”

Dickson received the NOSORH Distinguished Service award in 2006 which recognizes individuals who make outstanding contributions to NOSORH and are actively involved in their state office of rural health.

Created in 1995, NOSORH fosters and promotes legislation, information exchange, education and liaison activities with all state offices of rural health, the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy, the National Rural Health Association and other organizations.