ST. GEORGE, Utah — Drake Fowers is studying to be a medical administrator and knows the perils of trying to get health care in a rural town. He comes from Rupert, Idaho. Population: 5000.
"I did have leukemia. I had to get LifeFlighted to Salt Lake City, and so just the logistics for that of living in rural areas and trying to get treatment was very difficult and challenging, on top of getting the treatment as well," said Fowers.
Fowers is now interning with the Rural Health Association of Utah while he studies at Utah Tech. He was on hand Thursday as the association held a meeting with health leaders and state officials set on tackling innovative solutions for rural health at the Tech Ridge headquarters of Vasion.
Growing up in Tropic, with a population of less than 500, Kasey Shakespear is the association’s director. He sees technology and developing more medical talent that stays in their hometown as key.
"There are new technologies and things coming out every day for remote patient monitoring which expands the possibility of using telehealth efficiently in those situations," said Shakespear. "It's really a matter of trying to maximize telehealth and use it as much as possible to reduce those travel barriers, but it's never going to completely eliminate the need to see a patient or a provider in person."
Jack Niederhauser is hoping to be one of those providers.
A Kaysville native, Niederhauser is a first-year medical student at Rocky Vista University in Ivins, but is not looking to take his skills to the big city.
"St. George, Utah, is a little bit too big for my liking," admitted Niederhauser. "I'd like to be smaller than St. George. Some people think I'm crazy to say that, but that's what I like. And I just think that it's a thing to be out in nature, to be somewhere where there's people that need your help."
And the need is greater than just doctors. There’s a need for administrators at rural hospitals to do all that paperwork, which is what Fowers is aiming to do.
"I think with a growing population that's getting sicker, we're going to need more hospitals, obviously more doctors, but we're going to need more people to run these hospitals," Fowers shared.
