Can you believe that the world’s worst outbreak of HIV happened in a rural community in Southern Indiana? In this episode of Rural Health Leadership Radio, we continue the conversation with Dr. Will Cooke, who shares his story of being the sole practitioner in this rural community challenged with this incredible healthcare issue.

“We had threats to my life, people threatened to burn down the clinic, there was a lot of pushback”

~Will Cooke

William Cooke, MD, FAAFP, FASAM, AAHIVS, is a fellow of the American Academy of Family Medicine and the American Society of Addiction Medicine, specializing in family medicine, addiction medicine, and HIV medicine. His work has been covered by CBS, NBC, PBS, the BBC, USA Today, the New York Times, NPR, and others. In 2019, Dr. Cooke was named National Physician of the Year by the American Academy of Family Physicians and joined the ranks of two US surgeons general and a former secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services in receiving the Ryan White Distinguished Leadership Award. He was also the first physician to be awarded the Pillar of Excellence by Addiction Policy Forum.

Dr. Cooke lives in his hometown of New Albany, Indiana, with his wife, Melissa, and six children.

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