Obama names nurse to head healthcare access agency

WASHINGTON Feb 20 (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama has named a University of North Dakota rural healthcare expert to head the federal agency in charge of improving access to care in the United States, the White House said on Friday.

Mary Wakefield, a nurse who heads that university's Center for Rural Health, was chosen to head the Health Resources and Services Administration, an agency of the U.S. Health and Human Services Department, the White House said.

The agency will oversee the outlay of $2.5 billion in the economic stimulus bill signed by Obama this week for training healthcare professionals and improving the nation's healthcare infrastructure.

The agency's main job is to improve access to healthcare services for people without medical insurance and others, as well as improving health care systems in rural communities.

People in rural areas often have poor access to quality health services because they live far from major hospitals.

U.S. Census Bureau figures show 15 percent of Americans, a total of 45.7 million people, had no health insurance in 2007.

The U.S. healthcare system faces a shortage of nurses, with 116,000 unfilled nurse positions in hospitals and about 100,000 empty nursing and related jobs in nursing homes.

Wakefield also previously served as chief of staff to North Dakota Democratic Senator Kent Conrad.

Obama has not named a nominee to head HHS after former South Dakota Senator Tom Daschle withdrew because of personal tax issues. (Editing by Eric Walsh)