As an licensed medical doctor, Senator John Barrasso, (R-WY), knows how important health care is to citizens in the Cowboy State.
At a recent Senate Finance Committee hearing, the senior senator discussed health access challenges facing Wyoming with rural health experts.
Senator Barrasso specifically highlighted the need to invest in rural medical residency training programs, improve access to maternity services, and counteract the effects of rural hospital closures.
During the hearing, Barrasso suggested that one way to ensure people in rural areas get good health care is by implementing training programs and securing partnerships with rural hospitals to provide that important training.
“In Wyoming, our medical school works in partnership with the University of Washington, along with Montana, Alaska, and Idaho in the WWAMI program. What we’ve found out is that giving students a rural experience and residents rural experience helps them recognize early in their career the benefits of working in rural clinics and hospitals, and hopefully then moving there and practicing there full time.”
Senator Barrasso also bolstered his case by saying that research shows that medical residents are five times more likely to then go on and practice in a rural community if their residencies are in rural communities.
“That’s why I’ve introduced legislation called the Rural Physician Workforce Production Act to provide additional funds to rural hospitals that train residents. Right now, so much of the funding goes to the larger community – the large city hospitals – not the rural experience. This is political, but it’s bipartisan, because if you’re a senator – whether you’re a Republican or Democrat – you’re from a state that has a lot of rural areas. You want to get doctors into those areas.”
The Senate Finance Committee hearing also discussed an unfortunate, but growing problem women face with medical care. Because of workforce shortages and financial strains, doctors and hospitals are closing their OB/GYN departments and giving up maternity services. More than 55% of rural hospitals have shut down maternity care because of economic challenges and the lack of OB/GYN staffing, which leaves those affected areas with no ability to provide labor and delivery services, according to a report.
Barrasso offered a stark reality for many women in rural areas in Wyoming when it comes to healthcare.
“Five of our counties have lost maternity services entirely. Seven others have minimal access to care. And it’s leaving only eleven of our twenty-three counties with adequate access to OB services. Now, just for reference, every single county in Wyoming is larger than the entire state of Delaware or the entire state of Rhode Island. Some of our counties are larger than Connecticut, larger than the state of New Jersey. Can you imagine if the entire state of Delaware or Rhode Island or New Jersey lost all of their OB services? You know it would be in the front page of every paper.
For Senator Barrasso, the issue isn’t about numbers, it’s about the ability to have access to healthcare in rural areas, not just in Wyoming, but America.
“It’s a matter of health and economic viability for rural America. If you can’t provide opportunities to deliver babies or to recruit teachers, people in small businesses, all of those things.”
