Debra Youngfelt, executive director of the Eastcentral and Northeast Pennsylvania Area Health Education Centers in Lehighton received the 2019 State Rural Health Leader of the Year Award recently.

The award was presented at an event in Lehighton by Lisa Davis, director of the Pennsylvania Office of Rural Health and Outreach Associate Professor of Health Policy and Administration at Penn State.

The State Rural Health Leader of the Year Award recognizes an outstanding leader who has organized, led, developed or expanded an exemplary multidimensional state rural health program or initiative that benefits rural Pennsylvanians; demonstrates leadership; uses comprehensive, unique approaches to address a specific health issue in the state; and works with other relevant organizations and resources to develop or expand efforts that addresses health issues affecting rural Pennsylvanians.

The nomination, submitted anonymously, lauded Youngfelt for her extensive efforts to increase access to health care, forge effective and sustaining partnerships, and serve as a trusted collaborator.

Youngfelt’s career was shaped by a strong and early interest in health care, teaching and helping others to function at their maximum potential. She spent several years in the behavioral health field, working directly and administratively with high-risk children and adolescents.

Her tenure with the Eastcentral Pennsylvania AHEC began in 2002 as a health educator and has spanned a broad spectrum of experiences, from teaching young people about health careers to developing webinars for statewide use by health professionals.

She has developed or led programs focused on oral health outreach, community health worker training, diabetes education, tobacco cessation, and other initiatives to increase the health of residents in the region.

She serves in a number of leadership positions and is the president-elect of the Pennsylvania Rural Health Association.

In 2016, the Eastcentral and Northeast AHECs collaborated to reduce costs and expand programs throughout the 14 counties they serve. Youngfelt was promoted to the position of executive director of both regions in 2017.

The AHEC Program is a federally funded program established in the United States in 1972 to improve the supply, distribution, retention and quality of primary care and other health practitioners in medically underserved areas.