Presidential Document2021-25603
National Rural Health Day, 2021
Primary source
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Published
November 22, 2021
Signed
November 17, 2021
Issuing agencies
Executive Office of the President
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 86 Issue 222 (Monday, November 22, 2021)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 222 (Monday, November 22, 2021)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 66153-66154]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2021-25603]
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 222 / Monday, November 22, 2021 /
Presidential Documents
[[Page 66153]]
Proclamation 10311 of November 17, 2021
National Rural Health Day, 2021
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
America's rural communities feed and fuel our country,
steward our precious lands, and are home to 1 out of
every 5 Americans. As we continue to fight the COVID-19
pandemic and make the investments we need to build back
better, we must ensure that our recovery includes and
strengthens our Nation's rural communities. On National
Rural Health Day, we recommit to supporting the health
and well-being of rural Americans and celebrate the
rural health care providers who work tirelessly to meet
their needs.
Rural Americans face unique challenges accessing the
care they need and deserve. They often have to travel
greater distances to see a health care provider, are
less likely to have access to broadband to utilize
telehealth services, and are more likely to live in an
area that has a shortage of doctors, dentists, and
mental health providers. While the impact of the COVID-
19 pandemic has spared no part of the country, rural
areas have confronted additional challenges that affect
the delivery of services, including limited health care
infrastructure and fewer clinicians.
My Administration is committed to improving the health
of rural communities and ensuring that those who call
these communities home have equitable access to the
resources and services routinely available to people
living in more densely populated areas. That is why my
American Rescue Plan (ARP) is providing $8.5 billion to
rural health providers to keep their doors open and
continue responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. This
builds on over $820 million in ARP spending from
earlier this year to support COVID-19 testing and
mitigation across 4,200 Rural Health Clinics and over
1,500 small rural hospitals and $100 million in ARP
funding to support the vaccine outreach efforts of
Rural Health Clinics. My Administration's plan also
provided $500 million to create the Emergency Rural
Health Care Grant Program, which is helping rural
communities provide more COVID-19 testing and
treatment, purchase medical supplies, deliver food
assistance, and renovate health care facilities. These
investments are complemented by funds to expand
telehealth and support training for new rural health
care providers, including community health workers and
respiratory therapists. This funding has supported
thousands of Rural Health Clinics, small rural
hospitals, and community health workers.
My Administration's Build Back Better framework will
build on the successes of the ARP by delivering lower
cost, higher quality health care to rural Americans. My
Administration's proposal is the biggest expansion of
affordable health care in a decade and will lower
prescription drug and other health care costs for rural
Americans, keep rural hospitals open, and work to
address the root causes of poor health, including
outdated drinking water infrastructure across rural
America. Additionally, my Administration is
coordinating efforts across Federal, State, Tribal,
territorial, and local governments and incorporating
health equity principles, policies, and approaches in
our efforts to better support rural communities. This
means supporting rural hospitals and clinics, expanding
telehealth and workforce development, improving
community health, and providing greater access to
capital so that every American can receive lower cost
and higher quality health care.
[[Page 66154]]
On National Rural Health Day, we recognize the
importance of the health and well-being of our rural
communities. As our Nation builds back better, we
recommit to supporting our rural health care providers
and working together to bring about a stronger,
healthier rural America.
NOW, THERFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the
United States of America, by virtue of the authority
vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the
United States, do hereby proclaim November 18, 2021, as
National Rural Health Day. I call upon the people of
the United States to reaffirm our dedication to the
health and well-being of rural America.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
seventeenth day of November, in the year of our Lord
two thousand twenty-one, and of the Independence of the
United States of America the two hundred and forty-
sixth.
<GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT>
(Presidential Sig.)
[FR Doc. 2021-25603
Filed 11-19-21; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3395-F2-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on November 22, 2021.
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