Wisconsin Watch Media Partners Center (https://partners.wisconsinwatch.org/series/seeking-a-cure/)
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Family physician Dr. Bert Hodous works at Mayo Clinic Health Systems’ clinic in Arcadia, Wis. He used to work at the Arcadia hospital, and says when it closed it was “the saddest day of my life.” He helped design the new clinic, which serves a wide variety of patients in the rural area, including the area's Hispanic population. “I am so proud of this facility,” he says. “It’s clear to the patients that they are top notch.” Photo taken Sept. 19, 2019.
Seeking a cure: The quest to save rural hospitals is a collaborative project that includes the Institute for Nonprofit News and INN members IowaWatch, KCUR, Bridge Magazine, Wisconsin Watch, Side Effects Public Media and The Conversation; as well as Minnesota Public Radio, Wisconsin Public Radio, Iowa Public Radio, The (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) Gazette, Iowa Falls Times Citizen and N’west Iowa Review. The project was made possible by support from INN, with additional support from the Solutions Journalism Network, a nonprofit organization dedicated to rigorous and compelling reporting about responses to social problems. For more stories visit hospitals.iowawatch.org.
Mergers, reduced services and expanding Medicaid are some ways to save rural hospitals; proposals for new funding models are stalled in Congress.
Economic development is seen as one way to make communities and their residents healthier, while drawing and keeping doctors.