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Minnesota Rural Health Awards
Rural Health Awards are given annually to individuals and groups who have made a significant contribution to improving rural health in Minnesota.
Nominees may have contributed to rural health in any capacity, as a volunteer or in a paid position.
Awards are announced every year on National Rural Health Day, the third Thursday of November.
2024 Minnesota Rural Health Awards
The 2024 awards are announced on National Rural Health Day, November 21, 2024.
The awardees will be honored in person at the 2025 MN Rural Health Conference.
2024 Rural Health Awards
These awards were announced on National Rural Health Day, Thursday November 21, 2024. You may view or download the MDH press release. The 2024 awardees are:
- Maureen 'Mo' Spike, Public Health Supervisor for Isanti County Health and Human Services receives the 2024 Minnesota Rural Health Hero Practitioner Award for her work as a dedicated advocate for health and wellbeing of Isanti County residents. Through her visionary leadership, compassion, and innovative programs, Mo has significantly improved health care accessibility in rural Isanti County.
- Dr. John Schmitz, Behavioral Health Director for CentraCare, receives the 2024 Minnesota Rural Health Hero Provider Award for his work in Central Minnesota’s Behavioral Health community. In his role as director of Behavioral Health, he oversees the present and the future and in his clinical work as a psychiatrist, he brings wellness, dignity, and care to people who are the most vulnerable in our society.
- Sawtooth Mountain Clinic's Oral Health Task Force, Grand Marais, receives the 2024 Minnesota Rural Health Team Award for its work in providing access to high-quality, patient-centered oral care to all persons throughout the service area of Cook County and the Anishinaabe Nation of the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. They are strengthening the link between medical and oral health.
- Penny Messer, Division Director of Isanti County Health and Human Services Hutchinson, is the recipient of the 2024 Minnesota Rural Health Lifetime Achievement Award for her work in cultivating strong, resilient teams that thrive in rural health’s challenging environment, while the legacy of leadership has created a ripple effect, with many of those who she has mentored now playing key roles in rural health across Minnesota.
2024 Minnesota Rural Health Hero Practicioner Award
Maureen 'Mo' Spike, Public Health Supervisor for Isanti County Health and Human Services receives the 2024 Minnesota Rural Health Hero Practitioner Award for her work as a dedicated advocate for health and wellbeing of Isanti County residents. Through her visionary leadership, compassion, and innovative programs, Mo has significantly improved health care accessibility in rural Isanti County.
Maureen (Mo) Spike, Public Health Supervisor, CHS Administrator at Isanti County Health and Human Services, Public Health unit has been a Public Health Nurse with Isanti County for over 15 years.
Mo was raised in Isanti County; she and her husband now raise their family in Isanti County. Mo recently graduated from Saint Mary’s University with her Master of Public Health. Beginning her nursing career working as a crisis nurse on a behavioral health unit in Anoka, MN as she went to school to complete her BSN through Bethel University, she was able to complete her preceptorship at Isanti County Public Health. Through this preceptorship she knew Public Health was where she belonged and giving back to the community, she calls home was incredibly important to her.
Providing leadership to the wealth of programs Public Health offers the Isanti County Community gives Mo the opportunity to work with amazing staff while supporting the great community of Isanti County. Providing public health cares to the variety of communities within rural Isanti County has been a welcomed gift. Mo finds excitement in supporting her amazing public health team to care for the community through vaccine, health education, WIC, family home visiting, environmental health, dental resources, and so much more. Mo’s continued goal for Public Health is to provide a space for “working together to deliver quality services that are valued by the community, today and tomorrow.”
2024 Minnesota Rural Health Hero Provider Award
Dr. John Schmitz, Behavioral Health Director for CentraCare, receives the 2024 Minnesota Rural Health Hero Provider Award for his work in Central Minnesota’s Behavioral Health community. In his role as director of Behavioral Health, he oversees the present and the future and in his clinical work as a psychiatrist, he brings wellness, dignity, and care to people who are the most vulnerable in our society.
Dr. John M. Schmitz is a leader in the field of psychiatry, currently serving as the Education & Training: Dr. Schmitz earned his M.D. from the University of South Dakota School of in 1991, followed by a transitional residency at McKennan Hospital. He completed his psychiatry residency at the University of South Dakota in 1995, where he served as Chief Resident. He is board certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology and is licensed by the Minnesota Board of Medical Practice.
Professional Affiliations: He is an active member of several professional societies, including the American Psychiatric Association, the American Medical Association, and the International Society for ECT & Neurostimulation (ISEN).
Contributions and Initiatives: Dr. Schmitz has been instrumental in developing and supporting various mental health initiatives, including:
- Integrated Behavioral Health (IBH) across 30 clinics.
- The EmPATH unit, the first of its kind in rural Minnesota, opened in August 2021.
- The Collaboration of Care Model (CoCM) is completing the initial pilot with plans to expand to over 30 clinics.
- The First Episode Psychoses/Navigate program, set to launch in January 2025 in collaboration with the University of Minnesota.
- An Interventional Psychiatry program for the evaluation and management of treatment-resistant depression. A TMS program will start in Spring 2025.
- Development of a rural track psychiatry residency program in partnership with the University of Minnesota, anticipated to begin in Summer 2027.
- Previously held chair positions on the Behavioral Health section and the Suicide Prevention committees.
In July 2023, he joined the St. Cloud Hospital Advisory Board, further contributing to the advancement of mental health services in the region. Dr. Schmitz’s extensive experience and dedication to psychiatric care make him a key leader in improving mental health services in Minnesota.
2024 Minnesota Rural Health Team Award
Sawtooth Mountain Clinic's Oral Health Task Force, Grand Marais, receives the 2024 Minnesota Rural Health Team Award for its work in providing access to high-quality, patient-centered oral care to all persons throughout the service area of Cook County and the Anishinaabe Nation of the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. They are strengthening the link between medical and oral health.
"Our mission is to ensure that every child and young person from 0-26 years old, pregnant moms and seniors 65 and over in Cook County and the Grand Portage Reservation have access to dental treatment and oral health education, regardless of their ability to pay. All children receive free oral screenings at all schools, daycares, Headstart, WIC and ECFE. Follow-up treatment is provided at Grand Marais Family Dentistry with 90% of costs covered for those who qualify (which, in our area, is nearly everyone). Gas cards are available to aid transportation.
Our Dental Hygienist and Educator, Bonnie Dalin conducts dental education in schools and health fairs. She helps teachers with dental lessons and creates educational comic books in Ojibwe and English. The Task Force has purchased a portable x-ray machine for Dr. Alyssa Hedstrom DDS to do dental exams at Grand Portage and is providing a scholarship to train a dental assistant from the Reservation. In 2020 the Sawtooth Mountain Clinic adopted the OHTF to make it sustainable.
Since we organized in 2012, we've worked hard on oral health education and reduction of cavities in all ages. Compared to the state average of 55%, our kids in schools, daycares, etc. average 7.6% with our largest school system, ISD 166 at 4.7%."
2024 Minnesota Rural Health Lifetime Achievement Award
Penny Messer, Division Director of Isanti County Health and Human Services Hutchinson, is the recipient of the 2024 Minnesota Rural Health Lifetime Achievement Award for her work in cultivating strong, resilient teams that thrive in rural health’s challenging environment, while the legacy of leadership has created a ripple effect, with many of those who she has mentored now playing key roles in rural health across Minnesota.
"I must start this biography off by acknowledging how very humbled and overwhelmed I am in being nominated and chosen for the Minnesota Rural Health Award, specifically the Lifetime Achievement Award.
I graduated in 1984 with honors from Bemidji State University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Social Work, with an emphasis on Community Services and a Minor in Psychology. I married my college sweetheart in 1986, Brad Messer. He was hired as a Minnesota State Trooper. He was stationed in the Redwood Falls, Minnesota area. I started my career in Vocational Rehabilitation working at a day program for the disabled in Redwood Falls, Minnesota. I was employed with this agency for approximately three years. I then took a job as a Social Worker for the Developmentally Disabled and Adult Foster Care Licensing with Redwood County. This was a time when the community institutions were closing, and the individuals served in these programs were provided with dignity and compassion to move into licensed adult foster care homes to live a better life in the community. This was a very moving experience to be part of this process. During my tenure as a Social Worker, I was part of the development of new programming for Children’s Mental Health to serve children and youth diagnosed with a Severe Emotional Disturbance. To be part of such new and innovative programming for this population was very fascinating. However, it is very concerning to see how much suffering and trauma there is present with our young children. It was very rewarding to be part of this movement.
I was promoted to supervisor on or about 1995 at Redwood County. I managed the programs of Child Protection, Adult and Children’s Mental Health, all licensing programs, and Adult Protection. During our family’s time in Redwood Falls, we had two children, Nicholas and Brittany that we raised in this community.
In March of 2009, I interviewed and was chosen for the Director position at Isanti County Family Services. Redwood County and Isanti County are both very rural counties. I certainly have enjoyed working with the rural communities in that they are just the right size that you know who your colleagues and resources are. However, serving a rural community certainly has its challenges and gaps in services. In 2021, Public Health and Family Services merged into what is now called the Health and Human Services Division. It has been my complete pleasure to have the opportunity to work with our Public Health unit, during the pandemic I have to say. It was such a learning experience for me and so wonderful to be part of so many wonderful programs that are preventative in nature and not as reactive than what I had been accustomed to with my career on the family services side.
Collaboration is where I believe we do our best work. We cannot do this work in a silo that is for sure and have the impact that we need to have happen. Therefore, I have collaborated on many initiatives. To name a few have been with our family advocacy center to conduct forensic interviews with children and vulnerable adults alleged to have been abused. Also, to assist these families with advocacy and resources for healing. To assist our county with a significant shortage of childcare providers. Opioid work to overcome the abuse and misuse of this epidemic. Our Children’s Justice Initiative to work diligently to make the court process and services to be child focused. The networking and engaging with others have been the highlight of my career. Not to mention the wonderful and talented staff that I have had the honor to lead and work alongside. It is the relationships that you build along a career path that truly make your work important and worthwhile."