mN LegisLAture News

PFAS Chemicals Under Scrutiny in House

A bill sponsored by Jeff Brand, D-St. Peter, banning so-called “forever chemicals” was heard before the Minnesota Legislature. Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) were discussed at the first committee hearing Tuesday in the Minnesota Legislature, according to a news release from the Minnesota House of Representatives DFL Majority.

That hearing began at 3 p.m. in the Minnesota House of Representatives. on Tuesday.

The chemicals have been found in groundwater and are believed to cause cancer in people. Minnesota health experts are now monitoring PFAS contamination in freshwater fish in the state. The proposed bill would require manufacturers to alert the state’s commissioner of the pollution control agency if products contain chemicals that were intentionally added and to explain why they are needed.

3M recently announced a plan to stop PFAS manufacturing within three years, as the Ledger previously reported. 3M is a Maplewood, MN based company and has facilities in nearby New Ulm. PFAS chemicals have been linked to health issues and various types of cancer, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) also has announced a new monitoring system for PFAS chemicals.

“It’s important to ensure that people with all backgrounds and experiences have access to opportunities for building brighter futures in rural America,” Landkamer said. “Today’s funding is going to connect nearly 3,400 rural people, businesses, farms and schools with high-speed internet that will connect them to new markets and educational tools for generations to come.”

Funding for today’s investment comes from the third funding round

Background: Today’s investment is in coordination with a nationwide announcement made by U.S. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack that USDA is investing $63 million through the ReConnect Program to bring high-speed internet access to rural residents and workers in Illionis, Michigan, Minnesota and Mississippi. Since the beginning of the ReConnect Program, USDA has invested $3.2 billion to bring high-speed internet access to people in rural communities across the country - $23.7 million in

guest coLumN

Minnesota alone.

To be eligible for ReConnect Program funding, an applicant must serve an area that lacks access to service at speeds of 100 megabits per second (Mbps) (download) and 20 Mbps (upload). The applicant must also commit to building facilities capable of providing high-speed internet service with speeds of 100 Mbps (download and upload) to every location in its proposed service area.

Background: Bipartisan Infrastructure Law

President Biden forged consensus and compromise between Democrats, Republicans and Independents to demonstrate our democracy can deliver big wins for the American people. After decades of talk on rebuilding America’s crumbling infrastructure, President Biden delivered the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law – a historic investment in America that will change people’s lives for the better and get America moving again.

How to get more doctors in rural America

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides $65 billion to ensure every American has access to affordable, reliable high-speed internet through a historic investment in broadband infrastructure deployment. The legislation also lowers costs for internet service and helps close the digital divide, so that more Americans can take full advantage of the opportunities provided by internet access.

USDA Rural Development provides loans and grants to help expand economic opportunities, create jobs and improve the quality of life for millions of Americans in rural areas. This assistance supports infrastructure improvements; business development; housing; community facilities such as schools, public safety and health care; and high-speed internet access in rural, Tribal and high-poverty areas. For more information, visit www. rd.usda.gov/mn.

Doctors trained abroad will save rural health care

By G. Richard Olds

Health care is growing hard to come by in rural America.

Three-quarters of rural counties suffer from doctor shortages. Hundreds of rural hospitals are at risk of closing due to financial hardship. And while 20% of the U.S. population lives in a rural region, just 10% of physicians practice in these communities.

Fortunately, there's a group of doctors uniquely suited to fill these gaps -- graduates of international medical schools. These physicians have a history of working in our country's neediest communities. Many of them are U.S. citizens who simply chose to go abroad for their education.

COVID-19 took advantage of rural America's shortage of care. Patients in rural areas were 54% more likely than others to contract the virus, according to a September 2021 analysis from the Rural Policy Research Institute. Tragically, those infected people were also twice as likely to die as their urban counter- parts.

Lower vaccine rates in rural areas certainly contributed to those disparities. But so did staffing shortages and limited access to care, the analysis found.

Boosting numbers of primary care physicians in shortage areas could save over 7,000 lives every single year, according to a March 2021 study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine. That's easier said than done. The United States is predicted to face a nationwide shortage of up to 48,000 primary care physicians over the next decade.

One of the key drivers of these shortages is our aging physician workforce. Approximately 40% of doctors will reach retirement age over the next 10 years.

There are three key ways to combat the coming wave of retirements and strengthen the pipeline of rural doctors.

First, we can increase the number of rural Americans who pursue careers in medicine. Students from rural communities accounted for just 4.3% of new medical students in 2017. That's the result of a 15-year decline. The share of rural medical students dropped by a staggering 30% between 2002 and 2017, according to research published in 2019 in Health Affairs.

Medical graduates from rural communities are far more likely to practice in places like their hometowns than those from more populated areas.

The second is to look beyond U.S. borders -- to international medical schools -- for the next generation of rural physicians.

International medical graduates, or IMGs, account for about 25% of physicians currently practicing in the United States. The share is higher in particularly needy communities. In low-income areas, many of which are rural, more than 42% of doctors are international grads.

The U.S. healthcare system's top source of new doctors over the last eight years is actually outside the United States -- St. George's Uni- versity in Grenada, of which I'm the president. Many of our graduates practice in rural and other medically underserved areas.

In addition, graduates of international medical schools enter primary care specialties at disproportionately high rates. In the 2022 residency match cycle, about 70% of IMGs matched into a primary care residency.

The third is to expand residency training opportunities in rural America. Where physicians complete their residencies plays a big role in where they ultimately practice. One analysis found that over half of family physicians go on to practice within 100 miles of where they do their residency.

The lack of access to care in rural America has devastating consequences. International medical graduates can help fix this problem -- and make America a healthier place.

Dr. G. Richard Olds is president of St George's University (www.sgu. edu).

Glenn Taylor-Owned Star Tribune Media Co. Taps

Former Google Executive Grove as New Publisher

Minnesota Newspaper Association (MNA)

Minnesota native Steve Grove was named the publisher and CEO of Star Tribune Media Co., succeeding Mike Klingensmith, who is retiring after 13 years tenure with the Star Tribune.

Grove, currently Gov. Tim Walz’s commissioner of employment and economic development, will begin work at the Star Tribune in April. He spent 12 years as an executive at Google, most recently as the founding director of the Google News Lab. The lab partners with media companies and startups to drive innovation in the news industry. Grove also led Google’s civic engagement work. He previously built YouTube’s news and politics team. Early in his career, Grove was a journalist for The Boston Globe, ABC News and the Northfield (Minn.) News, his hometown newspaper.

“From the newsroom to the boardroom, our entire organization is delighted to welcome Steve to the Star Tribune,” said Glen Taylor, owner of the Star Tribune. “As his history demonstrates, he is a true champion for Minnesota and Minnesotans. We’re fortunate to have an executive of his caliber — a true innovator — join our team and help us define the future of local journalism. Of course, we’re just as fortunate that he takes the reins from Mike Klingensmith, who has led our organization to extraordinary successes for 13 years."

“As a native Minnesotan, I’ve admired the Star Tribune all my life,” Grove said. “I’m honored to join an organization that is driven by a sense of purpose, a belief that quality journalism matters and is essential to a thriving society and democracy. While we can be cleareyed about the challenges that media organizations face today, I think the Star Tribune is well-positioned to meet those challenges."