Maine Rural Health Research Center (MRHRC)

The Maine Rural Health Research Center focuses on barriers to health access for rural residents and related topics, including insurance coverage, Medicaid, behavioral health, long term services & supports, and challenges faced by rural providers (rural health clinics & critical access hospitals) in delivering and sustaining services. For over 20 years, the Maine Rural Health Research Center’s research agenda has focused on some of the most intractable health access problems facing rural residents, especially those with mental health and substance abuse issues and those facing financial barriers due to lack of insurance and under-insurance. That body of research has helped reveal the effects of policy and health system organization and financing on rural health access. The Center is committed to enhancing policymaking and improving the access, delivery and financing of rural health services by effectively linking its research to the policy development process through appropriate dissemination strategies.

The Maine Rural Health Research Center draws on the multidisciplinary faculty and research resources and capacity of the Cutler Institute for Health and Social Policy within the USM Muskie School of Public Service.