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

Mark Holmes on Public Policy, Health Care Financing and Rural Places

On Oct. 29, KHI hosted Health on the Plains Coffee Hour with Mark Holmes, director of the UNC Sheps Center and professor at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. He explored the intersection of public policy, health care financing and rural communities. Watch now to discover key insights.

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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.

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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