Ozarks Public Health Institute (OPHI) leaders have collaborated with colleagues on Missouri State University’s Springfield and West Plains campuses to open an innovative new center focused on public health issues in rural Missouri. The Ozarks Public Health Institute’s Center for Rural Health will be housed on the West Plains campus, offering faculty, staff and students opportunities to engage in research projects, community outreach and public health field experience.

The center connects Missouri State’s Springfield and West Plains campuses, enhancing opportunities for staff and faculty and providing a pathway for West Plains students to transition into advanced degrees. The Center aligns with the University’s public affairs mission and both campuses’ strategic plans, emphasizing student success, impactful research and community service.

“Our campus has been recognized as a leader in healthcare education for decades,” said MSU-WP Chancellor Zora Mulligan. “Establishing the Ozarks Public Health Institute’s Center for Rural Health here in West Plains will be good for our students and everyone who lives and works in the region we serve.”

Public health utilizes a multi-disciplinary collaborative approach that depends on engagement from fields like business, education, criminology, child and family development, nursing, health information technology, sociology, behavioral health human services and more. OPHI’s Center for Rural Health will facilitate this interdisciplinary, collaborative approach to addressing rural public health issues and their root causes in rural Missouri by delivering research, practice-based learning, teaching, service projects and workforce development opportunities.

OPHI has a 25-year history of improving public health across Missouri, working in partnership with the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, local public health agencies from northwest to southeast Missouri and statewide partners.

For more information on OPHI’s Center for Rural Health, contact OPHI associate director Jaci McReynolds at (417) 836-3271 or OPHI@MissouriState.edu.

OPHI was established by the Board of Governors in February 2001 as a Missouri State University-wide institute with an aim to address public health issues in Missouri. Utilization of the assets and resources of the entire university allows OPHI to offer meaningful services while addressing a broad range of issues. Learn more at MissouriState.edu/OPHI/.