Influx in broadband funds to Minnesota will open the door to more telehealth options
July 7, 2023
MINNEAPOLIS -- Dr. Cindy Firkins Smith doesn't mince words: "Rural health care is on the precipice of a crisis," she said.
Smith, a vice president and physician at CentraCare, has been practicing dermatology in Willmar for three decades. In all of that time, she's always recruited other doctors to join her ranks in Greater Minnesota.
"It's been challenging every one of those 33 years and I honestly thought it would get better, but if anything it's gotten worse," she explained.
State data show doctors in rural areas are older than those in urban ones, and one in three rural physicians plan to leave the workforce within the next five years, which could have "potentially devastating effects," Smith told WCCO.