MN lawmakers weigh funding to address rural cancer care disparity

ST. PAUL — A pilot program that aims to address a shortage of cancer care in rural Minnesota would receive funding under legislation being considered at the state capitol.

The “rural cancer gap” describes a trend in preventable deaths from cancer being higher in rural areas than in urban communities. Though death rates for cancer are falling overall, rates are falling more quickly in urban areas than rural communities, according to the Rural Cancer Institute.

Doctors say rural Minnesotans are experiencing health care access discrepancies reflected across rural America, with long waiting times and drives to see specialists who are often hard to find. And rural Americans experience higher cancer death rates than their urban counterparts despite having fewer new cancer cases, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The legislation would allocate $600,000 over fiscal years 2026-27 from the state’s workforce development fund to the Rural Cancer Institute to launch a pilot program aimed at exposing medical students to oncology care in rural Minnesota.

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Minnesota State Senate

Dr. Wade Swenson of Lakewood Health System in Staples, a medical oncologist with 20 years of experience in rural Minnesota, said the program would be a life-saving necessity.

“The need is urgent,” Swenson said. “We currently lack capacity in this state to effectively care for our rural patients with cancer.”

The initiative would be modeled after the Rural Physician Associate Program, which places medical students in rural communities.

The Rural Cancer Institute’s program would adapt the approach to cancer care, giving medical students, residents and fellows experience in rural oncology practice by placing them in clinics and providing housing support, according to Swenson.

Swenson said he hopes if the program is funded, it will encourage medical students to live and practice in rural communities after graduation.

“It’s really about exposure and changing the narrative about how cancer care is delivered in communities and rural practices,” Swenson said.

Swenson said expanding rural oncology service providers would not only improve rural communities’ access to health care, but also strengthen their economies by retaining health care dollars locally.

Rural oncologists bring about $2 million in downstream revenue to their surrounding communities, on average supporting five to eight health care-related jobs, according to Swenson.

Sen. Rich Draheim, R-Madison Lake, the primary author of the bill, said he has personally seen medical personnel shortages affect his rural hometown, including hospital closures, clinic consolidations and long wait times.

“Here, we’re helping the rural communities. We’re helping train doctors that will save lives,” Draheim said. “Just think if it was your loved one — your husband, your wife, your kids — that had to get cancer care. Would you want to drive two or three hours each way?”

The legislation was heard Wednesday, April 2, and laid over for possible inclusion in an omnibus bill by the Senate Jobs and Economic Development committee.

Report for Minnesota is a project of the University of Minnesota’s Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communication to support local news in all areas of the state.