Shannon Chambers wins national innovation award – SC Office of Rural Health

Sterling Heights, Michigan (October 25, 2022) – Shannon Chambers, senior director of provider solutions at the South Carolina Office of Rural Health (SCORH), received the 2022 SORH Innovation Award from the National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health (NOSORH) during the organization’s annual conference.

NOSORH presents its SORH Innovation Award annually to a State Office of Rural Health member who demonstrates creative and engaging community outreach, programs, and activities to advance rural health. NOSORH members and other rural health stakeholders submit yearly nominations for the national award.

“Shannon is a vital resource to anyone working in or with Rural Health Clinics (RHC),” said Marcus Pigman, rural project manager at the Kentucky Office of Rural Health. “In her roles with SCORH and NOSORH, Shannon has been offering valuable RHC-related assistance, education and information. Whenever someone contacts Shannon with questions, she’s always enthusiastic and willing to help in any way possible. She’s been nothing but professional and is devoted to improving rural health care. And she’s also devoted to helping others better understand and explain the intricacies of all things RHCs. She’s a tremendous asset to the State Office of Rural Health community.”

NOSORH was established in 1995 to assist State Offices of Rural Health in their efforts to improve access to, and the quality of, health care for nearly 61 million rural Americans.

About the South Carolina Office of Rural Health

The South Carolina Office of Rural Health (SCORH) is a non-profit organization with a mission to close the gap in health status and life expectancy between rural and urban communities in the Palmetto State. SCORH has been promoting investment, opportunity and health within rural communities since 1991.

With 27 percent of our state’s residents living in rural areas, SCORH believes in preserving the unique character of rural communities without compromising their opportunities and access to critical services.

Throughout the Power of Rural spotlight series, we’ve asked our subjects what “the power of rural” means to them. The answers have varied greatly, but mostly have been about intangible qualities – the sense of pride, the spirit of unity, the comfort of traditions, the perseverance in the face of challenges. 

But, as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. So we turn our spotlight this week to the artists of the Palmetto State who strive to capture “the power of rural” in their artwork. The SC Office of Rural Health hosts an annual rural art contest. This year’s first-, second- and third-place winners captured the beauty, history and ordinary splendor of rural South Carolina.  

The second-place award went to “Horse-drawn Funeral Hearse in Lone Star, South Carolina (Circa 1880),” a photograph by James Bradford, MD. Bradford is a former board chair at the SC Office of Rural Health, and donated his cash prize back to our programs.  

“The residents in these rural communities are some of the absolute friendliest people who are willing to share their personal stories and experiences with you,” she said. “Sense of community pride, to me, is the most powerful aspect of living and visiting rural communities. I strive to capture moments in my photographs that evoke an emotional response from the viewer and … challenge them to take a drive down a backroad and see the intriguing communities that they have been passing by.” 

Jessica Seel joined the South Carolina Office of Rural Health in 2018 as the workforce program manager. She currently serves as Director of Behavioral Health Initiatives & Workforce Development.