John Gale

John Gale is a Senior Research Associate and Director of Policy Engagement at the Maine Rural Health Research Center. His work focuses on leveraging resources to improve the rural healthcare infrastructure and develop rural systems of care. He serves as the principal investigator for numerous rural health studies as well as for the Center’s work on the National Flex Monitoring Team and the Frontier Community Health Integration Project Demonstration. His portfolio includes projects on the development of rural healthcare delivery systems, including Rural Health Clinics (RHCs) and Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs), as well as the delivery of mental health, substance use, primary care, and emergency medical services.

Gale is currently leading work on the future of rural health, the Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility Program, Critical Access Hospitals, and behavioral health. He has also conducted numerous studies on the integration of mental health and substance use services for RHCs and other primary care providers and has developed tools to assist CAHs and other rural hospitals in developing substance use prevention, treatment, and recovery programs. He presents widely at state and national rural health meetings and has authored and co-authored numerous publications.

John served as the President of the National Rural Health Association (NRHA) in 2021 and continues to serve on its Policy Congress. He is also a past president of the New England Rural Health Association. He has previously served on boards and advisory committees of numerous national organizations, including the New England Rural Health Association, the National Association for Rural Mental Health, the National Quality Forum, and the National Center for Frontier Communities. He also served as a lead consultant for the development of a toolkit for rural substance use treatment, prevention, and recovery for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.