September 12, 2013: Rural Health Initiative

This week we’ll focus on central Wisconsin’s Rural Health Initiative, a program that brings medical care and check-ups to farm families whose busy lives make it hard to access clinics and hospitals in urban centers. Discussion will include the special medical challenges facing farm families with Rural Health Initiative Executive Director Rhonda Strebel, including the dangers of agricultural work, the difficulty of scheduling regular medical care, and the problem of expensive, high deductible insurance. The Rural Health Initiative started in Shawano County ten years ago through the efforts of ThedaCare and the Shawano Medical Center. The program expanded to Outagamie and Waupaca Counties last year, and may expand to Marathon County in the near future.