Two MMA Members Receive Rural Health Awards

November 10, 2022

As part of National Rural Health Day on November 17, the Minnesota Rural Health Association, the Duluth-based National Rural Health Resource Center and the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) are presenting the 2022 Minnesota Rural Health Awards to the following honorees: 

• Rozalina McCoy, MD, medical director, Community Paramedic Program, Mayo Clinic Ambulance Service, Rochester, will receive the 2022 Minnesota Rural Health Hero Award for her work establishing a Community Paramedicine Program that brought care out into the community and to residents in their homes, hotels, shelters and other living situations. 

• Wesley O. Ofstedal, MD, medical director of Living Center, Essentia Health-Fosston, will receive the 2022 Minnesota Rural Health Lifetime Achievement Award for his devotion to his patients and his focus on geriatric care and preventive medicine. His work as a compassionate physician and mentor for multiple generations of local families benefited his entire community. 

• Wilderness Health, Two Harbors, will receive the 2022 Minnesota Rural Health Team Award for improving patient experience, advancing patient and community health outcomes, lowering costs, and enhancing the care team while serving a large area with some of the most remote parts of the state. 

McCoy and Ofstedal are both MMA members.  

More information about award winners and their photos can be found at the 2022 Minnesota Rural Health Awards webpage. In addition to the Rural Health Day recognition, the recipients will be honored at the 2023 Minnesota Rural Health Conference in Duluth, June 12-13, 2023.