>> CATHY: HERE WITH MORE ON THE NEW MEDICAL SCHOOL AND CHALLENGES FACING HEALTHCARE SYSTEMS IN GREATER MINNESOTA, KEN HOLMEN IS THE CEO OF CENTRACARE.

GOOD TO SEE YOU AGAIN.

>> LIKEWISE.

GOOD AFTERNOON.

GOOD EVENING.

>> Cathy: IT WAS ABOUT A YEAR WE HAD YOU ON THE SHOW TALKING ABOUT THIS MEDICAL SCHOOL.

AND I WANT TO JUST KIND F FOCUS ON THE PROBLEM FOR JUST A OMENT BEFORE WE START TALKING ABOUT OTHER ISSUES HERE.

WHAT YOU'RE TRYING TO SOLVE WITH THIS MEDICAL SCHOOL.

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH SAYS THERE ARE THREE DOCTORS PER 100,000 PATIENTS IN RURAL AREAS.

33 FAMILY DOCTORS FOR FOLKS IN THE METRO AREA.

SO I'M WONDERING, DOCTOR, WHAT ARE THE TANGIBLE EFFECTS OF HAVING THESE HANDFUL OF DOCTORS FOR 100,000 PATIENTS?

>> SO, THE STATISTICS WERE PRETTY CLEAR ABOUT THE SHORTAGE OF PHYSICIANS.

AND IF YOU LOOK AT THE AGING OUT, IT'S GOING O GET WORSE.

YOU SAW THE STATISTICS ABOUT THE AGE OF THE AVERAGE PHYSICIAN IN OUTSTATE MINNESOTA.

SO, WE NEED TO ATTRACT MORE, WE NEED TO TRAIN THEM, AND THE COMMENT ABOUT RESIDENCY PROGRAMS WAS SPOT ON.

SO WE'VE ADDED NOTHER SIX ADDITIONAL RESIDENCY PROGRAMS TO MAKE SURE THAT PHYSICIANS, ONCE THEY FINISH MEDICAL SCHOOL, CAN DO THEIR ADDITIONAL TRAINING.

WHETHER IT'S FAMILY PRACTICE, INTERNAL MEDICINE, OB OR ANY OTHER SPECIALTIES.

WHEN I LOOK AT THE MEDICAL SCHOOL, I'M REMINDED OF THE PARABLE OF THE SEWER.

AND THAT IS, AS LEADERS, WE CAST SEEDS OUT, RIGHT, WE'RE TRYING TO MAKE SURE THAT THE FUTURE'S MORE VIBRANT.

AND THIS HAS BEEN A REMARKABLE STORY OF SEWING SEED THAT IS GREW.

SO WE'VE HAD REMARKABLE ACCEPTANCE.

WE'VE HAD THOUSANDS OF KIDS APPLY, COMING HERE FOR TRAINING, WE'RE ADDING RESIDENCY PROGRAMS, WE'RE CREATING OTHER EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS AS WELL.

FOR EVERY STUDENT THAT'S GOING TO BECOME A DOCTOR, WE NEED EIGHT TO TEN OTHER PEOPLE.

SO NOW WE HAVE COLLABORATIONS WITH St.

CLOUD STATE, St.

CLOUD TECHNICAL SCHOOL, St.

JOHN'S, St.

BEN'S, St.

MARY'S, ALL IN THE EFFORT OF SIMPLY DOING ONE THING.

MAKING RURAL LIFE HEALTHIER, BY MAKING SURE WE HAVE A PIPELINE OF PHYSICIANS, NURSES, AP Ps, MED TECH, X-RAY, ALL THOSE FOLKS THAT WANT TO MAKE RURAL LIFE HEALTHIER.

>> Cathy: SO PROPERLY STAFFED THEN, YOU HAVE PATIENTS IN RURAL AREAS WHO WILL GET THE CARE THEY NEED WHEN THEY NEED IT?

A.CORRECT.

>> >> Cathy: BECAUSE RIGHT NOW THAT'S NOT HAPPENING.

>> THERE'S NOT ONLY A SHORTAGE OF PHYSICIANS IN RURAL AMERICA.

METROPOLITAN AREAS HAVE A MUCH HIGHER DENSITY OF ALL PHYSICIANS, OF ALL SPECIALTIES.

WHEREAS IN OUTSTATE, NOT ONLY IS THERE A SHORTAGE, THE MALDISTRIBUTION IS EVEN WORSE.

>> Eric: IS THE TUITION MANAGEABLE?

>> SO, THE COMMENT WAS MADE ABOUT THE FOUNDATIONS, SO OUR FOUNDATIONS' RAISED OVER $43 MILLION IN THE LAST 18 MONTHS.

MUCH OF THAT IS FOR SCHOLARSHIPS.

AS I LOOK AT THE AUDIENCE, IT IS FROM OUR COMMUNITIES.

THANK YOU.

[ Applause ] SO THE FOUNDATION MONEY IS RAISED TO SUPPORT OUR STUDENTS.

BECAUSE WHEN YOU HAVE STUDENTS FROM RURAL ENVIRONMENTS APPLY, MANY OF THEM DO NEED FINANCIAL HELP.

YOU TAKE FOUR YEARS OF COLLEGE, FIGURE UP SOME NUMBER FOR TUITION FOR FOUR YEARS.

FOUR YEARS OF MEDICAL SCHOOL.

PICK A NUMBER, 60,000 PER YEAR.

PRETTY SOON YOU'RE GETTING TO SIGNIFICANT DEBT.

AND IF WE WANT FOLKS TO STAY IN RURAL MINNESOTA, WE HAVE TO CREATE AN ENVIRONMENT WHERE THEY CAN SEE THEMSELVES AS BEING SUCCESSFUL.

>> Cathy: I GOTTA ASK YOU ABOUT THE ROLE AI WILL PLAY, NOT ONLY IN TRAINING THESE YOUNG DOCTORS, BUT ALSO CARE, MAYBE FIVE, TEN YEARS INTO THE FUTURE.

>> SO AI IS BOTH EXCITING AND THREATENING.

SO, HOW DO WE TAKE ADVANTAGE OF ECHNOLOGY?

EVERYBODY'S FAMILIAR WITH ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORD NOW.

AND, SO, WE HAVE SEVEN AI PLATFORMS THAT RUN IN THE BACKGROUND TO HELP US TAKE CARE OF PATIENTS MORE EFFECTIVELY, MORE ACCURATELY, AND THE QUESTION THEN IS, WHAT IS THE HUMAN COMPONENT TO A RAPIDLY ADOPTING TECHNOLOGY?

AND WE HAVE LOTS OF BARRIERS TO THAT.

PHYSICIANS AND SOMETIMES PATIENTS ARE RESISTANT TO TECHNOLOGY.

BUT AS YOU KNOW, EVERYBODY'S GOT A CELL PHONE.

TECHNOLOGY IS RAMPANT.

SO I'M REALLY EXCITED ABOUT IT.

BUT I'M OLD ENOUGH TO WORRY ABOUT IT.

SO HOW DO WE PUT IN PLACE THE NECESSARY PERSONAL OVERSIGHT TO MAKE SURE THAT TECHNOLOGY ACHIEVES THE DESIRED OBJECTIVE.

>> Eric: IS PRIMARY CARE THE NUMBER ONE SORT OF EMPTY POINT FOR DOCTORS IN GREATER MINNESOTA?

>> THAT IS CORRECT.

SO OUR PRIMARY EMPHASIS, WE HAVE TWO FAMILY PRACTICE RESIDENCIES, ONE IN St.

CLOUD, WE STARTED ANOTHER ONE IN WILLMAR.

LAST YEAR AS WELL.

AND I MENTIONED THE OTHER RESIDENCY PROGRAMS THAT ARE COMING.

SO, AGAIN, THE INTENT IS, WE KNOW IF WE EDUCATE THEM AND TRAIN THEM, WE HAVE PROBABLY ABOUT A 75% CHANCE OF KEEPING THEM IN URAL MINNESOTA.

>> Cathy: I KNOW THIS MEDICAL SCHOOL IS CLOSE TO YOUR HEART.

IS THIS YOUR LEGACY?

>> WELL, I THINK IT'S LOTS OF PEOPLE'S LEGACY.

IT SOUNDS FAIRLY STRAIGHTFORWARD TO BUILD A MEDICAL SCHOOL, LIKE FOUR OR FIVE WORDS.

IT DOESN'T REFLECT ENORMOUS NUMBER OF TEAMS.

THIS TRULY WAS A COLLABORATION IN A DIFFERENT MODEL.

SO, THE PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN CENTRACARE IS A PRIVATE, NOT-FOR-PROFIT 501(C)(3) HEALTHCARE AND THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA IS A UNIQUE MODEL IN THE COUNTRY.

AND THAT'S WHAT'S COOL.

>> Cathy: IT WAS GREAT TO SEE YOU.

THANK YOU SO MUCH.

>> WELL, THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT AND ALL THAT YOU DO.

>> Cathy: