The federal government shutdown is creating new challenges for Winona Health patients who rely on telehealth.
Winona Health officials say the number of people affected is small, but Medicare patients are feeling the change. Some visits that had been conducted virtually must now happen in person.
Hospice care is also impacted. Certain recertification visits that were allowed over telehealth will now require face-to-face appointments.
Administrators say they expect telehealth options to return once Congress resolves the budget impasse.
The 2-1 vote on hotspot lending reverses a Biden-era expansion of the discounts that allowed schools and libraries to use E-Rate funds for school bus Wi-Fi and hotspots so people could go online outside of schools and libraries.
The FCC said the agency “lacked legal authority for this expansion and that the agency failed to properly justify its decision” and said the program represented “unreasonable policy choices” and “invited waste, fraud, and abuse.”
Mayo Clinic is closing six locations in Southern Minnesota. Montgomery, Belle Plaine, Wells, Caledonia, North Mankato, and Saint Peter will all lose clinics. The Mayo Clinic Health System said in a statement it plans to consolidate clinic services, but locals worry about a lack of access. Montgomery City Administrator Brian Heck said rural Minnesota does not have robust broadband and not every patient is able to use virtual care. The six clinics will close on December 10th.
Minnesota girls’ math skills fell nearly half a grade level behind boys in the years after the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new analysis of standardized test scores.
The Associated Press looked at average test scores for third through eighth graders across 15 years in over 5,000 school districts in 33 states, compiled by the Educational Opportunity Project at Stanford University.
Across the country, the analysis shows that schools have lost ground since the pandemic following a decade in which educators had nearly closed the gender gap between girls and boys on math scores. While boys’ scores also suffered during COVID, they have recovered faster than girls’ scores. The widening gender gap in Minnesota was among the largest nationwide, equivalent to 43% of a grade level.
It turns out the situation may be worse for girls in rural Minnesota. There is the issue of broadband access…
When schools closed for the pandemic, districts had to focus on making remote learning work.
“Schools were more concerned with the logistics of getting kids on the right application and in the right Zoom room,or getting them to stay at their computers for the whole day, or even helping students and teachers find stable internet, especially in rural areas,” said Kondo, the education professor at St. Catherine University.
Also, there is the issue of girls not seeing themselves in STEM jobs…
Osakis superintendent Dahlheimer also notes that there are cultural aspects of rural Minnesota that make it more difficult to achieve his goal of creating long-term partnerships with businesses that can offer female STEM workers as role models for his district’s students.
“There are less STEM jobs out here. That may change with remote working, but for now, most homes are single-earner homes, and the person working is the husband, the father,” leading to a dearth of women whom girls can see thriving in STEM fields.
The numbers support the lack of role models in the workforce…
In Minnesota, only 26% of STEM workers are female, and only 11% are people of color, Brown said.
Obviously, better broadband would help the access issue. But it also seems that better broadband would support remote work, which would support mothers working (even part time) remotely in all fields, including STEM. Also with better broadband, girls in rural areas can more easily be introduced or even develop mentorships with women working in STEM in rural, suburban and urban areas.
There are some exceptions and I want to give a nod to Iron Rang Engineering’s #Night Program, which turned 10 last February. Here’s more info from their website…
Engineering outreach is a large aspect of Iron Range Engineering because we believe in giving back to our community. #Night is all about empowering young women to know that they can choose a career in engineering if they want to. Having more women in engineering will lead to better and more innovative ideas for solving the world’s problems.
Do you have public space where visitors can securely contact telehealth providers? The NRTRC ( National Consortium of Telehealth Resource Centers ) is trying to grow their publicly available map of places where folks can go to use Telehealth Access Points. The map could be valuable for folks who lack technology to do a telehealth call from home whether they are on vacation, experiencing homelessness or disaster or simply don’t have the technology or tech skills. Here’s more info from a recent post on the NDIA listserv…
A TAP is a public-facing space that furnishes a device with working camera, speaker and microphone, an internet connection and privacy considerations in the form of a dedicated room or kiosk for the general public to access a telehealth appointment. These have been found throughout the nation at community anchor institutions like libraries, social service agencies, community health centers and more. The NRTRC began mapping public-facing TAPs in 2023 in hopes of creating awareness of the spaces that are available for telehealth appointments and also to help navigators, providers and telehealth participants to find the resources they are looking for to participate in access to telehealth services.
We are thrilled to announce that as of today, we have mapped over 200 TAPs in all around the country, from New York State, to the Marshall Islands! But we know there are more out there! We are striving to map 250 or more of these by the time Digital Inclusion Week rolls out on October 6th and we need your help to accomplish this. If your organization or any organization you know of is providing a TAP in your community, please fill out this form to get it on the map. TAPs continue to be self-enrolling so you can do this at any time.
We appreciate your participation in this journey and look forward to celebrating this milestone with you all in October. If you have questions about the NRTRC find telehealth map, feel free to reference this user guide, or reach out to us directly.
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr yesterday introduced a declarative ruling that would reverse the decisions that enabled use of E-Rate funding to provide Wi-Fi on school buses. He also circulated an order for FCC reconsideration, which would end funding for Wi-Fi hotspots for children or library patrons for use outside of schools and libraries.
The press release announcing the moves says that the extension of the COVID-19 era rules exceeded the FCC’s authority. Carr also claimed the programs had a record of “poor stewardship of scarce funds, and invited waste, fraud, and abuse.”
Expansion of the Universal Service Fund (USF) Schools and Libraries program — also known as the E-Rate program — was approved by the FCC in July 2024.
Carr said expanding the E-Rate program after the pandemic was “in plain violation of the limits Congress imposed on the FCC’s authority. Indeed, the prior FCC eliminated many of the safeguards that Congress placed on those programs. The FCC also failed to demonstrate that these funding decisions would advance legitimate classroom or library purposes.”
Proponents of the added flexibility considered it part of the evolution of libraries. Larra Clark — the Deputy Director of the American Library Association’s (ALA) Public Policy and Advocacy Office and Deputy Director of the Public Library Association — told Telecompetitor in August 2024 that libraries can be enablers that help bring the benefits of the internet to more people.
A long list of healthcare stakeholders have signed a letter urging strong support for the Acute Hospital Care at Home waiver program in upcoming government funding decisions.
Writing to Congress this week, the organizations – including HIMSS (parent company of Healthcare IT News), AARP, American Telemedicine Association, Minnesota Hospital Association, Intermountain Health, Mass General Brigham, St. Luke’s Health System, UCAHealth and numerous others organized by Moving Health Home – said the evidence speaks for itself.
Patients, caregivers and providers are generally in strong support of at-home acute care, they said, and as such lawmakers should support the proposed five-year hospital-at-home waiver extension because the model has helped improve patient outcomes, lower healthcare costs and bolster older Americans’ access to medical care.
Moreover, it “will not lead to new costs” – they said in their letter on Wednesday.
They pointed to a 2022 study of patients at a New York City hospital, admitted to either hospital-at-home or inpatient care between September 2014 and August 2017, which found that one hospital-at-home program reduced costs by nearly $6,000 per patient compared with inpatient care.
Further, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has previously found that patients in hospital-at-home programs have lower mortality rates, readmissions and spending post-discharge, while resulting in positive patient and provider experiences, the 140 organizations pointed out.
These and other studies warrant the continued investment and innovation proposed in the Hospital Inpatient Services Modernization Act (S. 2237/H.R. 4313), they told the Democratic and Republican leaders.
Last week, Essentia Health joined a coalition of health care organizations calling on Congress to extend Medicare coverage for telehealth services before it expires on Sept. 30. In a letter to Congressional leaders, Essentia urged either a permanent extension or, at minimum, a two-year extension, be established to provide stability and clarity for patients, providers and the broader health care system.
Essentia Health focuses on the need for telehealth in rural areas…
As a health care system serving primarily rural communities, Essentia has leveraged telehealth to deliver primary and specialty care to patients who would otherwise have to travel long distances to receive care.
Essentia serves more than 12,300 patients on average per month through telehealth services, with providers conducting an average of 15,000 telehealth visits or consults per month.
This information comes from the MN Department of Education newsletter for librarians, but I thought there might be some readers who are librarians, community educators or tech/robotics coaches with an interest…
The Presidential AI Challenge is a national challenge where K-12 youth, educators, mentors, and community teams come together to solve real-world problems in their communities using AI-powered solutions, with an opportunity to showcase their solutions at a national level.
The challenge is open to youth teams in kindergarten through grade 12; each team must have a supervising adult such as a parent, mentor, educator, or community leader. Educator teams are also eligible. Registration opens September 2025.
Your library can support the challenge by:
sharing the challenge with your networks—schools, youth programs, educators, parents, and community leaders.
encouraging local schools, afterschool and out-of-school programs, or youth-serving organizations to participate and/or support team formation.
promoting registration via newsletters, social media, and events.
Hopelab looks at mental health and social media in kids in rural areas…
In this report, Hopelab examines the mental health, well-being, and online behaviors of young people aged 14-22 (n = 1,274) living in rural communities (21% of those sampled) compared to those living in suburban/urban communities (77%). The term “rural” refers to respondents who selected “rural” when asked to choose the option that best describes where they live, while “suburban/urban” includes those who selected either “suburban” or “urban.” This report explores how rural young people engage with social media, experience mental health and well-being, and access support for mental health needs in comparison to their suburban/ urban peers. This project centers the voices and experiences of rural young people and was developed using youth co-design practices. Youth co-distillation also informed the interpretation of results.6
Here are their key findings:
Rural young people are less likely to use social media daily compared to their suburban/urban peers.
Rural young people are more likely to prefer communicating via social media rather than in person, and they use social media differently than their suburban/urban peers.
Rural and suburban/ urban young people experience depression and anxiety at similar rates.
Rural young people are less likely to use mental health and well-being mobile apps, even when experiencing depression or anxiety.
Rural young people are less likely to have attended online therapy to support their mental health and well-being.
Rural young people are more likely to permanently stop using social media due to harassment, negative experiences, or concerns about time spent online.
Rural young people are less likely to encounter affirming content about diverse identities on social media.
Rural young people are less likely to report high levels of life purpose.
The event is in Denver. Internet 2 is generally education-focused. But the hands-on aspect is compelling!
TechEX25: See You in Denver
Registration is open! Mark your calendars for the upcoming 2025 Internet2 Technology Exchange held Dec. 8-12 in Denver, Colo. at the Sheraton Denver Downtown. Be sure to scoop up the best pricing by registering before September 5.
View the Program
The TechEX25 programis now available, offering early insights into timely topics:
AI and Data-Driven Innovation
Cloud Architecture, DevOps, and Infrastructure Automation
Network Engineering and Performance
Wireless Innovation and Mobility
Proposal submissions are open for Posters until Sept. 5 and for Working Meetings until Sept. 26. The selected Tutorials / Co-Located Meetings are posted and the program of talks is in process.
With a wide range of talks, tutorials, posters, working meetings, and sponsored social events, this is a must-attend event for our community. We hope to see you in the Mile High City this December!
The Minnesota Star Tribune posts an Op Ed from a technology services coordinator at Senior Community Services, a nonprofit program based in Minnetonka…
Retirement, which should be relaxing, becomes a frustrating tangle of technology to unweave in order to access basic benefits. Unfortunate considering it could be a resource that greatly augments real life.
The hurdles aren’t lack of intelligence or effort. My work has taught me that using technology is a learned skill — sometimes intuitive, sometimes learned through repetition and no logic at all.
Not everyone has broadband access either, or a working device, in addition to the skills to navigate it all. Assuming everyone does is either dangerously optimistic or willfully naive. And yet we’re cutting federal digital equity funding. How are we to ensure these essential systems remain accessible? Technology becomes a barrier, not a benefit.
Digital literacy isn’t a luxury. It’s health care access, financial safety and civic engagement. In Minnesota alone, hundreds of thousands of households lack basic broadband speed to support access to video telehealth.
If the connection is unstable, video calls with a doctor can drop, freeze or lag. To the average tech user, these glitches are minor annoyances. But for someone who isn’t tech-savvy, they’re debilitating. But with the end of programs like the Affordable Connectivity Program and the derailment of the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program, low-income and rural households are being cut off from both the infrastructure and the support they need to stay connected.
Even if we solve the infrastructure problem, anyone who has upgraded their cellphone in the past few years could tell you that services and devices are more expensive than ever. I would never recommend a refurbished, low-cost, generic-brand device to an older adult. They’re often buggy and their user experience is the least intuitive and user-friendly interface I’ve seen.
Thankfully, local programs are stepping in to help. Many libraries now offer computer help clinics, and nonprofits, like ours, hold digital literacy sessions at senior centers and community hubs across the metro.
Volunteers and staff are helping older Minnesotans use their smartphone and tablets and build confidence in this new, vulnerable digital landscape.
Public safety and essential city services continue to operate in North St. Paul as the city investigates a recent cyberattack on the city’s Police Department.
The breach was related to a phishing email sent to one business email account within the North St. Paul Police Department, said city spokeswoman Ava Griemert.
The attack was contained to a single account. There has been no impact outside of the one affected account, Griemert said.
On Monday, the City Council voted to hire a law firm to provide legal services and approved a contract with a cybersecurity company to conduct an investigation after what is being called a “business email compromise” came to light.
“Thanks to our IT team’s swift response, the unauthorized access was quickly identified, isolated, and terminated,” the city said Tuesday.
It’s important to see what’s happening in the area and how different local governments are taking care of the situation.
The MN Broadband Task Force met at Farmfest today. It was a short meeting, but they got to spend time with panelists who work in the ag business. It was interesting to hear from folks who have been (or still are) living on the slow end of the broadband divide. Also, there was an interesting push-pull conversation about precision agriculture and the growing need for data and the ability to process it with the energy it requires and the possible impact on local water.
2:30 p.m. – 2:35 p.m. Welcome – Teddy Bekele, Chair, Minnesota Governor’s Task Force on Broadband
2:35 p.m. – 2:40 p.m.Roll Call + Approval of minutes from June Task Force Meeting – Described the Task Force and had Task Force members introduce themselves.
2:40 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.Relationship between agriculture in Minnesota, and fast, reliable broadband – Panel discussion between representatives from the Department of Agriculture, Farmer’s Union, and Farm Bureau on the relationship between agriculture in Minnesota, and fast, reliable broadband.
Three panelists from rural/ag communities talk about their broadband needs.
Where is broadband needed?
Cooperatives have been powerful in getting broadband to rural MN. We get broadband from our local coop. (It’s the year of the cooperative.)
In most places, there’s one broadband provider. That’s fine when the provider is good but we need competitive in areas where that isn’t true.
Farmers use data – especially uploading data.
During COVID we really learned the importance of good broadband. Until we got better broadband, we have five ways to get online in our home.
Broadband can mean a resurgence for rural towns and communities. When people can work from home, they can live anywhere.
Broadband helps the largest and smallest farms.
Coops are great.
What would a connected community look like to you?
Just being connected would make a difference to keeping small towns alive.
In Pine City, we are seeing people move to our community. Often farmers need a second job for income and insurance.
Data gets bigger and bigger – we need broadband to manage it. Especially for precision ag.
What are the challenges to broadband?
What do you think of AI impacting ag?
It’s going to harness actionable data – for crops and livestock
We’re getting pitched on AI all of the time. We’re skeptical but we’re watching it. We’re not into it if is leads to more consolidation.
AI will double our energy needs and MN has made a commitment to clean energy – this seems in conflict and we need to have a conversation about that.
Our population is changing. We need greater diversity in farmers – so nice to have translation services.
Data collected on water and nitrates is also positive.
There do need to be checks and balances.
How are you holding federal and state agencies accountable for things like BEAD and USF changes?
No audible answer
How important is latency to you?
I don’t notice it with fiber – but I’m not on satellite or wifi.
Fiber has been so reliable for us.
This was an issue with teenage gamers at home but when we moved from Stalink to ECE we have fewer complaints. I also don’t hears as much from our neighbors. Farmers have to upload a lot and it had been an issue but as more fiber is available we see fewer issues.
From dialup to fiber – it’s been great. With email, it does matter. With videoconferencing, we notice the difference. BUT autonomous operations cannot tolerate latency.
We have seen lots of applications that need best broadband at Farmfest.
How can the TF help you?
Speed is 25/3 – but we need more. We need 100/100 and eventually gig access – especially with fully autonomous applications.
The efforts to get last mile are not working. We need a better plan.
I hear from people who go from crappy to good service and its life-changing.
There’s no State funding in the budget because we thought federal funding would work. But if it doesn’t – what do you need legislators to do/think?
The need will only continue to grow. 25/3 will not handle the growth for long.
One size does not fit all. I live in an area without trees, so wireless works for us.
If there’s limited funds, maybe we need to focus funding.
The push for fiber may not be affordable for everyone, we need to go with cheapest choices.
Q: From precision ag: As data centers are moving closer to the home, do you have concerns or ideas?
There’s concern about data centers on ag land – especially when it comes to water and water needs. Especially in southern and southeast MN.
Ditto
There used to be a concern – there’s a push and pull between water and energy needs. You want to use AI on the farm but it can’t be taken away because energy needs it. Making sure that tech companies work with communities is important.
Q: Economic development in SE MN: Is there any movement to get back RDOF funds?
It would be great
RDOF defaulted locations were at least re-added to the BEAD maps. But it is unlikely that we will recover the funding.
Q: Economic development in SE MN: Is there a push to get FTTH funding for communities that are “served” (according to the maps) by national providers but aren’t really served?
Local communities who aren’t served need to work on their situation
We need competition and we need to find a way to incentivize competition. We had a national provider who years, who never met our needs.
I’m not a fan of municipal providers but maybe if the municipal providers went with a open access model. You need to put out an RFP.
Why are you so passionate about broadband?
Three kids. The ability to learn and educate yourself. (Can’t be a YouTube mechanic on sate.)
Geofencing looks exciting.
Direct sales works better with broadband. Some farms have moved to entirely online sales.
We are building out a weather station across the state to get real time climate information. It helps farmers save money and take climate in consideration.
Technology is a way to get the next generation of farmers interested.
Also next generation of ag careers is very technical. Broadband is critical to that.
Broadband makes it possible to stay in rural MN.
3:30 p.m. – 3:45 p.m.Office of Broadband Development Updates
Bree Maki, Executive Director, OBD
MN State Grants
Border to border grants provide funding to providers to reach expensive areas to serve
Lower population grants does similar but for even higher cost areas
Line Extension allows residents and businesses to request help
OBD is visiting communities that received funding.
We have 3 different grant rounds of MN funding happening now. (These are folks who got funding in the past.)
Line Extension funds need to get spent by end of 2026.
New hire on land use is doing a great job and helping folks with permitting.
If you need better service, please take a look at our Line Extension program.
We brough legislators to see a broadband provider and speed testing.
We give lessons to decision makers on how to work with fiber
BEAD
In May we were told to start the grant process over due to federal changes.
We need to do a public comment period for our final proposal – it will start on Aug 28 and hope to do a webinar to introduce that.
We are soliciting letters of support from local organizations to include with our final proposal. We want to make sure that BEAD eligible locations are correct on the maps we are using.
It seems like we may need State funding to meet State funding goals.
AscendRural’s Symposium brings together rural community leaders, economic development professionals, and innovation experts for shared learning, insight, and forward momentum. The symposium will feature updates on ongoing initiatives, in-depth reports on pilot programs, and key findings from AscendRural’s work to improve rural well-being.
Attendees will hear directly from community partners, technology innovators, and policy advocates who are driving change in rural health, education and connectivity. Through presentations, panels, and interactive discussions, the event will highlight what’s working, what’s emerging, and how rural communities are shaping the future of equitable innovation.
