Lynette Dickson elected president of National Rural Health Organization Lynette Dickson, program director at the Center for Rural Health, has been elected president of the National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health (NOSORH). NOSORH’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 was elected by her peers to this leadership position for a three-year term. She previously served on the NOSORH board and as the organization’s treasurer. Dickson received the NOSORH Distinguished Service Award in 2006 which acknowledges individuals who make outstanding contributions to NOSORH and are actively involved in their state office of rural health. As president of NOSORH, 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 the program director for the North Dakota State Office of Rural Health, an affiliate of NOSORH. She directs grant programs which provides 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 the 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, director of the Center for Rural Health. “She’s an important and strategic link between North Dakota’s rural health care issues and concerns and the nation’s rural health agenda.” 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. -- Wendy Opsahl, Communications Coordinator, Center for Rural Health, wopsahl@medicine.nodak.edu, 777-0871