OKEECHOBEE – Andrea Stephenson Royster, CEO of Lake Okeechobee Rural Health Network (LORHN) and on behalf of the Health Council of Southeast Florida (HCSEF) requested the Okeechobee County Commission present a proclamation designating Nov. 19, 2020, as Rural Health Day in Okeechobee County.

The Lake Okeechobee Rural Health Network, Inc. was formed in 1994 under Chapter 381.0406, Florida Statutes. LORHN is one of nine Rural Health Networks in Florida, with the common goal of ensuring that all rural residents have access to a continuum of affordable health care, and to champion the efficient and effective delivery of health care services in rural areas, via the integration of public and private resources, and the coordination of health care providers.

Their vision is to provide for the special and specific health needs of the residents, visitors, and businesses in the Lake Okeechobee area; with extended services to the rural counties of Glades, Hendry, and Okeechobee, and the rural communities of Martin and Palm Beach Counties.