Tom Morris: 2025 Moskol Leadership Award Recipient

It’s often said within our rural health community that successful rural communities are creative, collaborative, and scrappy. Rural health care is fortunate to have this tone set from the very top, by this year's Moskol Leadership Award recipient, Tom Morris. 

Tom is a rural health leader, a champion for rural healthcare, and a believer in 3RNET’s mission. As the Associate Administrator for Rural Health Policy in the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Tom oversees the work of the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy, which is charged with advising the HHS Secretary on rural health issues.

Tom’s has a knack for seeing potential connectivity between programs, partners, and opportunities. Much like the rural communities he serves, he understands what it takes to look toward success and sustainability. We’ve seen this time and again at 3RNET, as over the years Tom has seen opportunities where 3RNET’s practical knowledge and tools can help move the needle. His vision for our organization and how 3RNET fits within the full picture of rural health care has led him to recommend changes where he sees 3RNET can create and support change for rural health, and has ensured our longevity even when things can be uncertain.

Though he has been working in rural health for nearly 30 years, Tom started out as a journalist. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of North Carolina, he got a job at a small newspaper in eastern North Carolina as one of two journalists covering the sports section. Having grown up in suburban areas, he quickly learned about rural America. “A small newspaper is a bit like a small rural hospital,” he shared. “Nobody wears just one hat, and so after a couple of years I sort of shifted from sports writing to news.” 

One story that caught his eye centered on the medical school at East Carolina University, which had been charged by the state legislature to produce primary care positions. This charge aimed to address gaps in both the eastern and western parts of the state - and also produced a wealth of stories about doctors going out to practice in small towns. Intrigued by this mission, Tom began writing about health care. 

“I got really interested in the intersection of poverty and health care,” Morris shared, “because eastern North Carolina is a beautiful region, but it is also a very poor region and that sort of disconnect between public policy and the reality on the ground and the challenges those communities face sort of just embedded in me even if I didn’t know it at the time.”

When newspapers around the country started closing their doors, Tom decided to go back to school for his master’s in public administration with a concentration in community health. During his time in the program, he accepted an internship at the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP) in Washington D.C. and the rest, as they say, is history. 

“It was an interesting journey,” Morris shared. “The Federal Office of Rural Health Policy had a real underdog mentality, and there were lots of opportunities.” During this internship, he learned about 3RNET just as our organization was getting off the ground in 1996. After completing his master’s degree, Morris returned to FORHP, where he interacted with Fred Moskol, 3RNET’s founder, and Tom Tucker, an influential figure in 3RNET’s story who would later serve as our executive director from 2011-2012.

In an ever-shifting political and social landscape, Tom reminds us to not get hung up on the numbers but to focus on the impact we are making. It is because of his leadership and vision for not only 3RNET but rural and underserved health care across the nation that we are honored to award him with this year’s Fred Moskol Leadership Award. 

“You know, it’s small numbers in rural,” Morris said in a last word of encouragement to 3RNET members. “Even if you have only a few places you were able to place physicians in any given year, it’s more about the impact of those placements, not the fact that there’s a huge number. Don’t get hung up on the numbers, get hung up on the impact.” 

Thank you, Tom Morris, for dedicating yourself to rural and underserved health care. We are grateful for your leadership and impact!