Tag: COVID

By Whitney Oachs, Research Intern As discussed in our recent 2020 State of Rural Report, most farmers were barely getting by before the onslaught of COVID-19. While agricultural land values have remained at historic highs, low commodity prices and increased costs of production have resulted in negative net income, contributing to declining mental health for ...

This is the time of year that I am usually enjoying some county fair food while looking at 4-H exhibits at local county fairs.  Obviously, this year that is not happening because of the pandemic.  I have been able to track down some fair food, but I’m really missing the sense of community that a ...

By Marnie Werner, Vice President, Research Since the middle of March, that old Irish blessing/curse has been bouncing around in my head:  “May you live in interesting times.” I really, truly understand its full meaning now. The first half of 2020 has been interesting, to say the least. Never would I have guessed back in ...

Our June 3, 2020, webinar on our recent report looking at the impact of mergers and service consolidations in rural health care is on our YouTube channel and ready for viewing.  Our report, “Integrating Rural into the New Reality of Health Care,” takes a look at what is behind the wave of health care facility ...

Why the shift in how we pay for healthcare will drive further consolidations of rural healthcare services and what we can do about it May 2020 By Kelly Asche, Research Associate & Marnie Werner, Vice President, Research For a printable version of the report, click here. For a short video providing an overview of this ...

Access to healthcare services has been an issue in rural areas for years. Our upcoming report takes a big dive into the reasons why, from the policies to the business models that cause services to be offered in one location but disappear from others.  CRPD research associate and project lead Kelly Asche joins Marnie and ...

Access to healthcare services has been an issue in rural areas for years. Our upcoming report takes a big dive into the reasons why, from the policies to the business models that cause services to be offered in one location but disappear from others.  CRPD research associate and project lead Kelly Asche joins Marnie and ...

When taking population into account, the rate of COVID-19 cases is just as high, if not higher, in counties outside of the seven-county metro. By Kelly Asche May, 2020 Counties outside of the seven-county metro have some of the highest COVID-19 case rates in the state. But this so far hasn’t translated into a similarly ...

  In the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, with unemployment claims in Minnesota hovering at around 20% of the labor force, it might seem strange to talk about a workforce shortage. But just last winter (that seems so long ago, doesn’t it?) that’s exactly what we were talking about. As a follow-up to last year’s ...