CARING FOR OUR OWN

In the midst of a crisis of rural hospital closures and the COVID-19 pandemic, doctors in Sedalia, Missouri spearheaded initiatives to create rural residency programs for budding medical professionals. The goal for mentors, like Dr. Douglas Kiburz, was to attract and train the next generation of rural physicians in an area where the critical gaps in medical access can be the difference between life and death. There are 57 hospitals in Missouri - Bothwell Hospital is one of the 19 at risk of closure due to financial strains.

Marcus Mallen is a medical student participating in Bothwell’s Longitudinal Integrate Clerkship (LINC) program, which connects students with medical professionals in Sedalia. He grew up on a farm in northwestern Missouri. “It’s all I’ve ever known… I get to take care of people who have a really similar life and deal with similar challenges. It keeps me going.” Without these critical ports in the storm, patients face life-threatening delays in critical care.

This work was created during Missouri Photo Workshop and recognized with the Howard Chapnick Award, distinguishing “a photographer who, with exceptional honesty and integrity, explores and documents an issue or story of great social concern.”