Rural healthcare workers honored for their impact in area hospitals

Two San Juan County health care professionals are among the 13 workers honored with “Impact Awards” by the Utah Department of Health and Human Services.
Cari Spillman, Compliance director at Blue Mountain Hospital
Spillman spent the last 14 years at Blue Mountain Hospital and recently started a new data analytics platform. The platform has already improved both patient safety interventions and financial outcomes for the hospital.
Renee Johnson, Outpatient services coordinator at San Juan Health
Johnson has started new cardiology, and tele-cardiology and tele-oncology programs in remote southeastern Utah—in just 5 years. Patients don’t need to travel long distances or even leave home to get critical care.
“It’s my pleasure to recognize these exemplary rural healthcare workers,” said Marc Watterson, director of the Office of Primary Care and Rural Health.  “We work hard to make quality healthcare services and programs affordable and accessible to all Utahns, no matter where they live. We couldn’t do this without the dedication of our rural healthcare workforce.” 
There are often barriers that make it hard for people who live in rural areas to get healthcare, such as distance to clinics and hospitals, and transportation.
Utah is home to nine independent hospitals, 15 rural health clinics, and 60 federally-qualified health centers.