CentraCare - St. Cloud Hospital (photo: cent
ST. CLOUD, Minn. – Plans to open the first new medical school in Minnesota in 50 years are moving forward in St. Cloud as a partnership between the University of Minnesota and CentraCare.
With as many as a third of doctors in outstate Minnesota expected to retire in the next five years, Dr. Ken Holmen, CEO and president at CentraCare, said the strength of the Saint Cloud program will be those who really have an interest in rural health care.
“We know from past experience and from the data that we collected, folks that train in a rural environment are much more likely and encouraged to stay in rural areas,” Holmen said.
Holmen said the students will get hands-on experience working in small-town hospitals.
“We also anticipate having rotations in some of our more outstate, rural facilities,” Holmen said. “I mean, that’s what we’re trying to do, is get folks interested in rural health care.”
CentraCare will be asking the state legislature for $13 million in bonding money to remodel the building which will house the program. That’s in addition to $15 million dollars lawmakers have already appropriated for the new medical school.
Holmen said the St. Cloud campus will enroll between 20 and 24 students each year.
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