Whether Dr. Sreejith Gopi is providing care for a newborn baby or his 98-year-old patient who still walks to appointments at the Essentia Health-Ada Clinic, there is a common tie that binds.

“Having quality access to health care providers on a regular basis, including for acute injuries and illnesses, I think it’s just a basic human right,” says Dr. Gopi, an Essentia family medicine physician in the small northwest Minnesota town of Ada, where the nearest metropolitan area, Fargo-Moorhead, is 45 miles to the south. “I’m glad that we can provide that support to the community we serve and the surrounding communities.”

The philosophy is straightforward: A person’s location shouldn’t impact their ability to receive timely and expert care.

At Essentia Health, we embrace that belief as a guiding principle. With a geographic service area that is about 84% rural, we work hard every day to safeguard the health and well-being of all our patients, regardless of where they live.

Today — Thursday, Nov. 21 — we join others in recognizing and celebrating National Rural Health Day.

Did you know that nearly 61 million people in the U.S., or 19.7% of the population, and 86% of the country’s land area, are considered rural? And yet rural communities face a disproportionate shortage of qualified health care providers, with 71% of primary care Health Professional Shortage Areas located in rural regions.

Indeed, the challenges of providing care in small towns are many and complex. For example:

• Rural populations tend to be older, with more pronounced health needs and a higher likelihood of chronic disease. These patients require more frequent care to manage their health and, in rural areas, there are fewer providers.

• Rural residents are more likely to have government health insurance, such as Medicare and Medicaid. On average, these programs reimburse far less than the cost of care, leaving a financial shortfall for health systems.

• Workforce shortages are more pronounced in rural areas.