GARRETT COUNTY TEAM WINS MARYLAND RURAL HEALTH ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

Pictured: Bob Stephens, Garrett County Health Officer, Shelley Argabrite, Garrett County Strategic Health Planner, Dr. Jennifer Corder, Garrett County and Allegany County Deputy Health Officer, and Rodney Glotfelty, Former Garrett County Health Officer

The Maryland Rural Health Achievement Award was presented to the Garrett County Health Department’s Population Health, Innovation, and Informatics Unit, comprised of Shelley Argabrite, Strategic Health Planner, and John Corbin, Public Affairs Specialist, at the 2018 Maryland Rural Health Conference Annual Association Meeting & Awards Ceremony Dinner in Cambridge, Maryland, on October 22nd.

Bob Stephens, Garrett County Health Officer, and Dr. Jennifer Corder, Garrett County and Allegany County Deputy Health Officer, presented the award to Argabrite on behalf of the Maryland Rural Health Association.

This award was presented in recognition of the open source and nationally-recognized innovation, the Garrett County Planning Tool (mygarrettcounty.com), founded by Argabrite and developed by Corbin to increase equity and build capacity for hyper local data collection by agencies, organizations, and local stakeholders.

Upon acceptance of the award, Argabrite thanked Garrett County’s dedicated and engaged communities for embracing the new platform and expressed appreciation for everyone who is contributing to digital community planning processes in order to make Garrett County a healthier place to live, work, and play.

To date, this innovation has been replicated in The District of Columbia, Clackamas County, Oregon, Medina County, Ohio, Flathead City & County, Montana, and Allegany County, Maryland, and is rapidly gaining attention across the United States as an awarded Promising Practice by the National Association of County and City Health Officials.

The Maryland Rural Health Association is a non-profit organization whose mission is to educate and advocate for the optimal health and wellness of rural communities and their residents. Lara Wilson, Executive Director of MHRA stated, “We received an unprecedented number of nominations this year and the competition was extremely tough. However, after careful review, the Selection Committee believes this work rose to the top.”

For more information about the Garrett County Planning Tool project, visit the online tool at mygarrettcounty.com

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