SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — It is said by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that 64 of South Dakota’s 66 counties are rural or border.
It is National Rural Health Day on Thursday. The South Dakota Department of Health recognizes this day to show how important health care is in rural areas and to “celebrate” the people who work in these places.
57% of the people who live in South Dakota live in rural places, which includes the frontier. It is said that thirty counties are agricultural and that forty-four are frontier. In the places where many of those 57% live, there are often not enough health care workers.
As of July, the state Department of Health (DOH) listed dozens of counties as having a lack of general care doctors and another dozens as not having enough medical care.
According to the Rural Health Information (RHI) Hub as of October, the only counties in South Dakota that don’t have a lack of health professionals are mostly in the southeast.
The DOH has a list of dozens of counties that don’t have enough doctors and hospitals.
Based on how often people use them now, the Robert Graham Center says the state will need an extra 162 general care doctors by 2030. The rate of use doesn’t take into account the growth of the last five years.
In April, KFF, a non-profit that tracks and writes about health care issues, said that South Dakota needs 45 more primary care doctors to be taken off a list of states that are short on primary health care professionals.
It might be harder to find the health care workers you need in rural places.
About 1 in 10 doctors work in rural places. According to the Lown Institute, patients in rural areas tend to be older, have less money, and be in worse health than patients in urban areas. This is one reason why some health care workers choose not to work in rural areas.
A report from the Missouri State Medical Association says that doctors tend to work and live in the places where they went to medical school, and that many of these schools are in cities.
You can find medical school in South Dakota at the University of South Dakota in Vermillion. This can help you find care workers for rural areas.
The DOH said in a news release on Thursday that it is working to improve how health services are sent to rural areas and areas that don’t get enough medical care. It said things like “recruiting health professionals, helping facilities like hospitals and rural health clinics, helping interested groups create and use technology applications, and giving general information and referrals.”