TOPEKA — Eleven rural Kansas counties will receive up to $4,000 each to help pay for local health assessments, state officials announced today.

The grant awards through the Office of Rural Health at the Kansas Department of Health and Environment coincided with Gov. Sam Brownback's proclamation declaring this Rural Health Day.

The counties receiving the grants are Brown, Dickinson, Jackson, Marion, Ottawa, Phillips, Republic, Rice, Russell, Wilson and Washington.

The money will help pay for town hall meetings or community surveys as part of efforts to assess local health needs.

The assessments, which are going on across the state, are being done as part of efforts to accredit local public health departments and in some instances in conjunction with local non-profit hospitals required to review community needs as part of the federal health reform law.

“KDHE is committed to supporting these initiatives through investments like this where communities are not just taking a closer, comprehensive look at their health indicators but are focused on partnering to help leverage available resources,” said KDHE Secretary Dr. Robert Moser in a prepared statement.

Since January, KDHE’s Office of Rural Health has awarded $119,000 in grants to 32 counties plus one regional public health group.