Bringing Health Care to Medically Underserved Communities
The decision to help bring health care to medically underserved communities brings focus and immediacy to MMA Foundation programs. Every step we take to address this pervasive issue has an immediate and positive impact. We help those seeking medical care in their own community. We lighten the work load of the physicians who are already there and we help the community as a whole. We not only help make people healthier, but we help generate economic impact for the community even beyond the clinic or hospital. So the community becomes more vital and healthy in several ways.
While some urban populations struggle to get adequate health care, the shortage of physicians in rural Minnesota is particularly well documented. A 2006 report notes that 41% of Minnesota’s approximately 4.9 million residents live in rural Minnesota, whereas just 20.7% of Minnesota’s physicians practice there. Furthermore, Minnesota’s rural physicians are approaching retirement at a faster rate than urban physicians. Recruiting physicians for rural practice has proven particularly challenging in recent years and some positions have remained open for long periods of time, in many cases a year or more. This situation puts a strain on the remaining physicians, increasing the frequency of being on call and requiring them to manage a greater caseload during office hours. When such conditions persist, retention of the remaining physicians becomes more difficult, in turn creating an additional barrier to recruitment and sometimes causing a downward spiral in both recruitment and retention.
There is no need for communities to struggle with this situation by themselves. Health care centers and the communities they serve can work together to attract the physicians they need. The MMA Foundation can provide information and ideas, too.
Visit the About MMAF page on this website to see what the MMA Foundation is already doing to make a difference for underserved communities in Minnesota.