New CMU Rural Equity Institute To Work With Rural Communities For Accessible Healthcare

https://www.ourmidland.com/news/article/new-cmu-institute-work-rural-towns-accessible-18128484.php

New CMU institute to work with rural communities on accessible healthcare
By Ben Jodway - May 31, 2023
Updated: May 31, 2023 9:35 p.m.

Some rural communities in Michigan have been described as "healthcare deserts," and a new Central Michigan University institute hopes to help turn that around.

The university is establishing the CMU Rural Equity Institute to help ensure access to healthcare in smaller communities. It will use medical students already at the university to help shore up healthcare rosters in neighboring communities, provide telehealth access and expand broadband capacity, said Alison Arnold, director of the CMU Interdisciplinary Center for Community Health and Wellness and head of the new institute.

Gladwin is one county that stands to benefit from this initiative.

The pandemic exposed "glaring issues" in communities' mental health that the university was well-positioned to address, Arnold said. In Gladwin, the institute is looking closely at increasing internet access to provide telehealth therapy.

"If there are no access hotspots or places where there are internet deserts in some of these counties, we need to identify those and be part of solution-building to identify them and work together with communities to resolve those issues," Arnold said.

The institute would help students by giving them clerkship and medical residency experience, Arnold said. This would reduce the wait list for specialists and psychiatrists as well as allowing students real-world experience. To achieve this, it has partnered with multiple rural health clinics, she said.

So far, CMU faculty are excited about this project because many of them live nearby and have worked with rural communities in the past, Arnold said.

"Since the announcement's going on, I've got a nice list of faculty who have reached out already saying, 'I'm doing this exciting work with my students, how would it connect?'" she said. "That's the role this institute will provide."

By the end of the year, Arnold said the institute will host a reoccurring opportunity by the end of the year whereby CMU Health Professions students and faculty can pitch a focus for new projects to help rural communities.