Rural Utah needs healthcare professionals. Local leaders want help from lawmakers
Rural health care in Utah has two pressing issues. There are not enough workers and it is a challenge to train, hire and retain more workers for the future.
(Jud Burkett | Special to The Tribune) The Rocky Vista University College of Osteopathic Medicine campus in southern Utah is virtually empty on Thursday, June 24, 2021 in Ivins. Classes are expected to resume next month.
Rural health care in Utah has two pressing issues. There are not enough workers and it is a challenge to train, hire and retain more workers for the future.
Lawmakers discussed both issues when the Health and Human Services Interim Committee met Sept. 18 in St. George. Towards the end of her presentation to the committee she said: Rocky Vista University Heather Ferrill, dean of osteopathic medicine, pointed to two maps that illustrate the challenge.
The first showed that the vast majority of Utah counties have too few primary care physicians to meet local needs. The second showed where graduates from the university’s medical school – located in Ivins, west of St. George – are completing their residency training this year.
She drew lawmakers’ attention to the groups of graduates who eventually went to hospitals in Nevada, Arizona and Idaho.
“Most of these students wanted to stay in Utah,” Ferrill said. “And they couldn’t do that, so they had to leave the state.”
Read the full story at kuer.org.
This article is published by the Utah News Collaborative, a partnership of Utah news organizations dedicated to informing readers across the state.
