ST. PAUL - The University of Minnesota plans to establish a Fergus Falls-based health education center to help bring health-care professionals to central and western Minnesota.
"The fact that there are workforce shortages ... especially in greater Minnesota" drove the decision, according to Barbara Brandt, assistant vice president at the University of Minnesota Academic Health Center.
The center, expected to be at Minnesota State Community and Technical College's Fergus Falls campus, will coordinate university health-related activities with local programs and other colleges. It will be the third in the state, following Hibbing and Willmar, with one in northwestern Minnesota to follow in about a year.
Brandt said an example of what the center can do comes from Hibbing, where dental students worked with the local community college to put on clinics for people who cannot afford dental work. Up to six students who serve at that clinic decided to work in rural areas, Brandt said.
