Garrison Keillor: Doctor Magnet

By Thrall, Terese Hudson

PHYSICIAN RECRUITMENT ‘Prairie Home’ star sings the praises of America’s ‘Icebox.’ Will docs listen?

Garrison Keillor may not be the best doctor recruiter, but he can’t hurt. So far, thaf s been the experience of Duluth Clinic, a small physician practice in International Falls, Minn. Last April, he sang a song on his popular public radio show, “A Prairie Home Companion,” about the joys of practicing in International Falls, playing on the town’s reputation as “The Icebox of the Nation.”

“In the winter, if s not uncommon for it to reach minus 40, and that’s without the windchill,” says Sheila Hart, administrator of the clinic.

Perhaps because of the weather, or the town’s remote location along the U.S.-Canadian border, the clinic hit a dry spell in recruiting doctors. During that time, only four family medicine doctors cared for 15,000 area residents, 6,300 of which live in International Falls. When fully staffed, the practice boasts seven family medicine physicians and several specialists. Because the clinic is affiliated with SMDC Health System, Duluth, Minn., Hart could sometimes find temporary help elsewhere in the system.

The local critical access hospital was adversely affected as well. “When the clinic isn’t fully staffed, our census drops and we lose referral sources,” says Bonnie Erickson, interim CEO at Falls Memorial Hospital. “Those family medicine physicians admit patients and deliver babies.” The hospital doesn’t employ physicians and it often works with the clinic to bring physicians to town, she adds.

To get out of the doctor drought the SMDC marketing department gathered community leaders in August 2006 to brainstorm new approaches. One idea: try to get some coverage on “A Prairie Home Companion.” Keillor vacations on nearby Rainy Lake.

“If we could get something in front of him, I thought he might have a soft spot in his heart for our plight,” Hart says.

The system hired a composer to write a song and sent it, along with a letter from Mayor Shawn Mason, to the show. Keillor rejected the song-but he wrote his own and interviewed Mason for last spring’s broadcast. “The clinic needs more doctors,” says Mason, explaining her desire to help in the recruitment effort, “and we have a story to tell doctors about our area-rich with natural resources and offering a slower pace of life.”

The Keillor gambit is part of a larger effort that includes mailings to doctors around the country with pictures of the International Falls scenery and baring slogans such as “Practice where you play.” The envelopes have stickers announcing, “We want doctors who aren’t afraid to use leeches,” referring to the local fishing bait. Says Hart: “We know doctors are deluged with mail and we wanted to put something on the letters that would make them want to open it.”

Hart advises other areas with physician shortages to look at what makes their communities unique and market those attributes. And, she says, get your entire community behind recruitment initiatives. “It has to be a community effort because it takes a community to retain a doctor,” she says.

Keillor’s ditty may be paying off. In November, a podiatrist who heard it called the mayor, interested in learning more about the area. “The connections to the song continue,” says Hart.

To hear the song, visit www.smdc.org. -TERESE HUDSON THRALL

Duluth Clinic, a small physician practice in International Falls, Minn., hired a composer to write a song explaining the virtues of practicing medicine in their rural community. They sent the song, along with a letter from their mayor, to Garrison Keillor (above), host of the public radio show, “A Prairie Home Companion.” Keillor rejected the song, but wrote and performed his own version for his show last April.

Sondheim It’s Not

Lyrics from the song written and performed by Garrison Keillor about the need for doctors in International Falls, Minn.

“They’re looking forttoctors in International Falls. Up on the northern border, where the loon calls. They don’t need a psychiatrist, they’re basically all right. They need fishhooks removed and treatment for frostbite.

“It’s not a luxury resort with miles of sandy beaches.

“It’s more known for blizzards, wood ticks and leeches. It gets cold in winter so you cannot feel your face. But for the right kind of person, it could be the perfect place.

“A surgeon would be nice, and a few specialists.

“International Falls is paradise, but disease exists.

“It’s not a cultural center, not New York or L.A.

“The loons provide the music and the dogs perform ballet. There’s fishing and hiking and hunting and canoeing.”

Copyright Health Forum Inc. Feb 2008

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