Mayo Clinic Health System receives state grant to improve rural emergency care

EAU CLAIRE — A $47,000 matching grant from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services was received by Mayo Clinic Health System to train emergency medicine advanced practice providers in point-of-care ultrasound — a technology used to provide timely diagnoses for trauma and critical care patients. The grant is part of more than $300,000 awarded to support development of eight training sites to ensure access to quality health care in rural and underserved areas of the state.

The grant will be applied toward training equipment, instructor training, quality improvement infrastructure and the first several courses. The courses will be available to physician assistants and nurse practitioners who practice at Mayo Clinic Health System critical access hospitals in Barron, Bloomer, Menomonie and Osseo, as well as other rural emergency medicine providers throughout Wisconsin.

“Mayo Clinic Health System has committed to standardizing emergency care as much as possible, regardless of Emergency Department size or location,” says Alex Beuning, M.D., regional director of Emergency Medicine at Mayo Clinic Health System in northwest Wisconsin. “This training will ensure that the emergency providers working in these rural locations are proficient in point-of-care ultrasound used for trauma and critical care patients.”

Point-of-care ultrasound allows emergency medicine providers to quickly acquire and interpret ultrasound scans in order to prescribe treatment.

“This is another example of Mayo Clinic Health System’s commitment to training medical personnel to meet the needs of patients,” says Donn Dexter, M.D., chair of Education for Mayo Clinic Health System in northwest Wisconsin. “This grant will support our efforts to continually improve the quality of care for the residents of northwest Wisconsin.”