Leaders at the University of Minnesota School of Medicine and CentraCare discussed their intentions to strengthen the organization’s partnership to improve the health of Minnesota residents with the university’s board of directors in December.
Jakub Tolar, dean of the medical school and vice president for clinical affairs, and Ken Holmen, president and CEO of CentraCare Health, said small towns and rural communities in Minnesota are grappling with a growing shortage of medical professionals. We have detailed how we face difficult challenges.
People in rural Minnesota more often have limited access to quality care because there are not enough qualified health professionals in the local community. This includes longer wait times for appointments, travel farther afield for inpatient care, and reduced service at local hospitals and clinics due to a low number of primary and specialties. includes doing. care doctor.
The data also show that residents of these areas tend to be older and at higher risk of death from a myriad of health conditions such as heart disease, chronic respiratory disease, and injuries, caused by labor shortages. This is exacerbating a difficult situation.
In light of these troubling trends, Tolar and Holmen shared a vision for U of M Medical School and CentraCare to increase medical education opportunities in rural communities. In these regions, CentraCare already serves throughout Southwest, Central, and West Central Minnesota. The data clearly show that training doctors in rural communities helps these doctors stay and practice in these communities.
The medical school’s Duluth campus has an established record of recruiting and training students who choose to practice in Greater Minnesota, and this proposed expansion of local medical education builds on those successes. .
With Board action on this proposed partnership scheduled for a February meeting, Tolar and Holmen discussed a number of possibilities. One result is the expansion of resident and clinical rotations within CentraCare. This includes areas such as mental health, pediatrics and general surgery, which are experiencing the most severe shortages in rural communities.
The other is a regional campus based at the CentraCare facility, which provides training for the M College of Medicine with a focus on local providers in St. Cloud. Within this possibility, opportunities for clinical research and clinical partnerships with a focus on rural health will also be explored.
These two organizations (CentraCare is one of the many medical and health collaborators the U of M has throughout Minnesota) are dedicated to providing excellent clinical care and educating Minnesota’s future physicians. has a successful history of working with M Medical University.
This expanded relationship builds on the existing foundation between U of M and CentraCare. This foundation includes a joint residency program with the U of M Family Medicine that dates back more than 25 years, a training track for medical resource services and management at Willmar and the University. of Minnesota Physicians’ Joint Orthopedic Practice.
The next board meeting is scheduled for February 9-10. regents.umn.edu for more information.
