A report by the University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences outlines the current state of and issues facing the health care industry in the state.
Dr. Joshua Wynne is dean of the medical school. He says the report is the fifth one completed on a biennial basis, and it is mandated by the state legislature. He says its findings help stimulate further research into health care issues.
Wynne says the report found that North Dakota has generally better health care at a lower cost, as well as a generally healthier population. But he says its cancer mortality rate seems to be higher than that of other states, and there is also a discrepancy of the percentage of health care providers in rural versus urban areas. Wynne says that is true across all different types of providers in the health care field - and that while North Dakota has more nurses on average for its population, it's still experiencing a nursing shortage. He says that creates challenges in the years to come - while baby boomers age as patients and as providers.
"That's one of the prime reasons why we've expanded our medical and health sciences class size by about 25 percent, just because we're going to need more providers as people in my generation - I'm a baby boomer - start thinking about retiring."
Wynne says the report is the most comprehensive report on health and health care in North Dakota.