Town hall in Owatonna focuses on health care, mental health

Dodge County resident Matt Coy knows all too well the impacts of not having enough access to mental health care.
His son, Wyatt, took his own life on Jan.19, 2017. He was 18 years old.
Coy tried to get help for Wyatt, who struggled for a long time.
But as Coy explained last week in Owatonna, when they tried to get him therapy, it was a “sorry state of affairs.”
Coy shared his story at the end of Minnesota Public Radio’s Kerri Miller Rural Voice program, which drew about 150 area residents together to talk about rural health care and mental health.
The audience at Mineral Springs Brewery included health care professionals and concerned citizens. The program was supported by the Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation (SMIF).
The statewide town hall series, Miller said, came to the area three years ago. This time around, concerns included hospitals bracing for losses of funding, fewer beds in nursing homes as the need increases, cuts coming to Medicaid, and hospitals closing or reducing services.
The needs, everyone agreed, are especially critical in the area of mental health.
Asked about the future of federal funding, Tim Penny, recently retired CEO of SMIF and former U.S. Representative from the First Congressional District, said of cuts to healthcare programs, “for the foreseeable future, that’s the lay of the land.” Facilities will see reductions. We don’t know the magnitude, but all are on high alert.”
Members of the Albert Lea Health Care Coalition, a grassroots initiative, said that in 2017, the city lost some healthcare services. The group formed and brought in Mercy One and ultimately had a clinic and providers. After two years, however, that provider closed, and now the group finds themselves “back looking for primary care and more.”
Now, they said, Albert Lea has minimal psychiatric clinic services, and those continue to be diminished.
Still, group members said, “Albert Lea does not quit. We are hopeful we are close to getting a provider.”
Speakers from throughout the area spoke of the difficulties they have had in finding both primary and mental health care either for themselves or for members of their families. They spoke of both lack of providers and difficulties in paying for the services. Others said that affordable housing and finding childcare are also problems.
Xella, who said she is a transgender person living in Austin, also described her current situation. When she moved back to Austin from Chicago, she said, she knew it would be difficult. Now, she finds herself dealing not only with government efforts to cut ability to get HRT treatments but also negative reactions from people on the street.
“If we lose healthcare,” she said, “a lot of us will die before de-transition, (stopping the HRT medication).”
Veterans, including Dr. Steve Lansing and Col. B. Wayne Quist, also brought up the topic of treating veterans suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The two men have written several books on the topic and see the lack of services for these individuals in greater Minnesota a serious problem. At the grassroots level, Lansing, who treats those with PTSD, said 85% of the mental health providers are in the Twin Cities.
In an effort to get more primary care doctors in greater Minnesota, Mayo’s Medical School has partnered with local organizations to get medical students interested in practicing in rural areas.
Since most medical students do not have a farm background, they are given the opportunity to visit farms and rural communities. One of those students said he was from New York City and was learning “it’s tough to be a rural doctor.” Still, he said, he might consider it.
Another medical student said he was from rural northern Michigan and he “will be a rural doctor.”
Julie Tesch of the Center for Rural Policy said that greater Minnesota has more entrepreneurs and small business owners than the metro area. Many of these people, she said, are either uninsured or self-insured. There is also a higher percentage of veterans, she said. When she started in her position seven years ago, she said, mental health was one of the biggest issues but all she got was “crickets.”
“Government isn’t going to save us,” she said, “we have to work together.”
Despite the issues facing rural healthcare, there is still a sense of hope.
As the night ended, Matt Coy also spoke about his family’s part in helping to make a difference.
After Wyatt’s death, he said, the family tried to turn the tragedy into something positive and began the Ride for Wyatt snowmobile fundraiser each winter. The foundation they created raises funds to offer scholarships to students in the area who want to go into a mental health career. It also works to lessen the stigma around suicide.
“The community support is phenomenal,” Coy said. “My son was always a helper, and he can continue to help people forever, a glimmer of hope can help at the grassroots level. We as a people have the ability, responsibility to make change ourselves.”
“I wanted to end on a sense of hope,” Miller said. “Thank you.”
The Rural Voice town hall was recorded and will be broadcast on MPR at a later date.