Rural health challenges and opportunities, Part 3: The clinicians’ perspective

In our latest podcast series, we’re taking a deep dive on rural health, going beyond the common tropes about rural America – the older, sicker, poorer narrative – and checking in with folks on the ground who are excited to do the work of promoting equitable health outcomes for rural Americans. 

Today, Health Disparities podcast host Sarah Hohman talks with two rural health providers:

• Russell Wimmer is a physician associate practicing in a single provider clinic in the small rural town of Brownsville, Oregon.
• Dr. Caylor Johnson is a Family Medicine Physician with Medical Specialists, Inc., in Waynesboro, Georgia.

Johnson explains some of the unique challenges facing rural communities, which are incredibly diverse.

“In my county alone, I have multiple communities, and they each have their own challenges, their own culture, their own history and beliefs,” Johnson says. “And that all comes to the table when they come to the doctor, and I have to be prepared for that.”

Wimmer also shares what he loves about providing care in his rural community.

“When you walk around, people talk to you and you know them personally, and they know you,” Wimmer said. “They're not ignorant to the fact that you're working with limited resources. They know that they're remote, they know that it's hard for you to sometimes help them with what they need. But the fact that you're there with them every day is not lost on them. They appreciate everything that you've done. They know that you're what they've got.”

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