Patti J. Patterson, M.D., M.P.H., Vice President of Rural & Community Health, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock, Texas

Conventional wisdom holds that "you can never go home." While this may hold true in many ways, Dr. Leo Vela and I are both trying to go home with new knowledge and skills. Dr. Vela has left his position as Vice President for Rural and Community Health at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) to return to Harlingen to become the dean of the University of Texas Regional Academic Health Center. Dr. Vela has been a strong advocate for the journal and for the field of rural health. Fortunately, we will not be losing his services since he will continue to serve the journal as a member of the editorial board.

After being away from the South Plains for medical school, residency, and a 12-year stint at the Texas Department of Health, I have returned to assume the role of the Vice President for Rural and Community Health at TTUHSC. Growing up in a town of 2,000 people on the South Plains gave me first-hand experience in the unique challenges and opportunities of rural life. I am very excited about the opportunity to work with communities and other partners to improve rural health leadership, policy, and practice. Together we can improve health status and access to care for the residents of rural areas.

This is an exciting time for the journal. There is great interest in rural health at national and state levels. The new editor of the journal, Dr. James E. Rohrer, has unique skills, abilities, and relationships to lead the journal to greater state and national prominence. Jim has been working on rural health for several years, first at the University of Iowa and now as the chairman of the Department of Health Services Research and Management at TTUHSC. He has published over 70 articles and the APHA book entitled Planning for Community Oriented Health Systems, which is now in its second edition. The journal is uniquely positioned to contribute to the national debate on rural health issues by publishing diverse prospectives. We plan to reach out broadly to a diverse group of stakeholders including policy makers, health professionals, administrators, academics, and consumers. We hope that the journal will become a vehicle to disseminate the latest innovative ideas about how to understand and hopefully to solve rural health problems.