Jeanne Ryer, MSc, EdD, is Director of the NH Citizens Health Initiative (NHCHI), a multi-stakeholder statewide effort to create a system of care that promotes health, assures quality and makes care affordable, effective, and accessible to all New Hampshire residents. The Initiative is a project of the University of New Hampshire Institute for Health Policy and Practice. Dr. Ryer also leads the Institute’s focal area on Delivery System and Payment Reform.
Dr. Ryer has spent much of her career working on to improve access to health and health care, especially for rural and underserved populations, including work as a consultant, in health philanthropy, and in community services. From 2003 until 2011, Jeanne was Program Director at the Endowment for Health, New Hampshire’s statewide health foundation, where she managed a portfolio of grants, projects, and policy initiatives addressing economic and geographic barriers to health. Her work focused on state and federal health system reforms, safety net health services, and community transportation. She led efforts to develop and implement a Mission Related Investment strategy to create the Safety Net Loan Fund, a working capital loan fund for safety net primary care, mental health, and oral health clinics. Before joining the Endowment, Dr. Ryer served as Senior Program Officer for the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, managing the grants programs of two of its rural regional divisions and covering health issues statewide for the Foundation and as lead staff for the Lakes Region Charitable Foundation, a regional division of NHCF.
Prior to working for the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, Dr. Ryer was the principal of a consulting firm specializing in community health and human services planning and primary health care access, focusing on the needs of the underserved in rural and remote areas. Earlier in her career she worked in direct service, patient education, and program administration in community health programs. She is author and co-author of several books, including one of the early guides to the Internet and others on accessing health and medical information online.
Dr. Ryer serves on the NH Legislative Commission on Interdisciplinary Primary Care Workforce, the New England Comparative Effectiveness Public Advisory Council, and the Broadband Advisory Committee for her rural community.
Dr. Ryer’s research and professional interests include population perceptions of health and well-being and the use of multi-stakeholder collaboratives in health systems transformation. Dr. Ryer received her BA from the University of New Hampshire, MSc from the Center for Evaluative Clinical Sciences at Dartmouth (Geisel) Medical School, and EdD from Plymouth State University.
