Health on the Plains Coffee Hour

Promotional image for “Health on the Plains,” featuring a wide, tilled farm field under a blue sky with scattered clouds. Bold black text reads “HEALTH” with “ON THE PLAINS” beneath it. On the lower left, a coffee cup graphic with steam and a leaf inside it sits above the words “COFFEE HOUR” and the URL “khi.org.” The bottom right shows the Kansas Health Institute logo with the text: “KANSAS HEALTH INSTITUTE – Informing Policy. Improving Health – khi.org.

Rural Health Web Series

Health on the Plains Coffee Hour is a Kansas Health Institute web series hosted by Wyatt Beckman, KHI senior analyst and portfolio strategist. Launched in June 2025, the series focuses on health and well-being in rural areas. Each episode features a live conversation with experts from across the country on topics that shape health in less populated parts of the United States.

Episodes highlight guests who are leading voices in rural health. The series is also available on YouTube.

Latest Episode

Health on the Plains Coffee Hour, Featuring Sarah Jane Tribble

On June 16, KHI hosted a conversation with Sarah Jane Tribble, Chief Rural Correspondent for KFF Health News. A Kansas native and award-winning reporter, Tribble brought both lived Kansas experience and deep reporting expertise to the discussion.

As part of the Health on the Plains Coffee Hour series, the conversation explored the nuanced story of rural health care and current challenges and opportunities facing rural communities today — including hospital closures, rapidly advancing technology and the Rural Health Transformation Program.

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About the Host

In a modern office with potted plants and city views, a cheerful man sits relaxed in a gray chair, crossing his legs to reveal bold, colorful socks. A “Health Policy” pamphlet lies on a small round table in front of him.

 

Wyatt J. Beckman, M.P.H., Senior Analyst & Portfolio Strategist, has a leading role in KHI’s activities and projects focused on rural health. Born and raised in Ness City, Kansas, Wyatt grew up thinking about the intersection of health and rural life – with one parent serving as an EMT and director of EMS, and the other as a rural route carrier for the United States Postal Service. He has seen both the challenges and the successes of rural health, and the often unseen, untold and unappreciated sacrifices of those working to serve their communities.

Like the challenges and opportunities facing rural communities, Wyatt’s work at KHI has been varied. He has contributed to KHI studies on social isolation, e-cigarettes, suicide prevention, telehealth, prescription drugs, and the response of local governments to COVID-19.

 

Wyatt also provided research support to the Center for Sharing Public Health Services, a national initiative formerly managed by KHI and funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which focuses on resource sharing arrangements as a strategy to improve public health effectiveness and efficiency.

Wyatt has long known and appreciated the power of storytelling in its many forms. As a radio show host in college, he loved finding out the meaning behind the songs and artists he was playing and sharing that with his audience. Through this podcast, Wyatt hopes to create a space for the rich, nuanced and meaningful conversations about health in rural Kansas. Along the way, he hopes listeners will smile, laugh, ponder and gain new insights into the people working to make Kansas a healthier and more vibrant place to call home.

Listen to the Podcast

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Behind the Scenes

Health on the Plains Coffee Hour Production Team

Wyatt J. Beckman, M.P.H., Host 

Rebecca Andrade, M.A., Learning Design and Programming

Lyndsey Burkhart, Digital Communications

Mikell Burr,  Graphic Design, Social Media and Website Lead 

Stewart Cole, Multimedia Design

Karsen DeWeese, M.P.H., Accessibility and Evaluation Lead