CentraCare outlines services, challenges
Benson Council Member Dan Enderson and County Commmissioner Eric Rudningen listen to CentraCare CEO Ken Holmen describe the challenges healthcare faces in the coming years as well as innovative ideas CentraCare is pursuing.
As he came into Benson last Wednesday, with the sun in his rearview mirror, Dr. Ken Holmen saw a young boy in cleats, carrying his football helmet, walking down the street. “That’s cool,” he said. It was a vision of a place with a sense of community. “Healthcare is about community,” Holmen then added.
CentraCare President and CEO Holmen was coming to Benson to meet with the Swift County-Benson Hospital Governing Board, city and county officials, and the public.
Since 2023, CentraCare has owned and operated the hospital and clinic, but the governing board remains in place as an advisory body. Its role is to give CentraCare feedback on how it is fulfilling its obligations to the community in providing medical services. Once a year, it meets with the public to gather input.
Gathered in the meeting room at the hospital were representatives of the community, the hospital’s local governing board, and CentraCare executives from St. Cloud, Willmar, and Benson.
CentraCare is developing strategies to address the challenges and opportunities in healthcare, Holmen told the group. “Healthcare is changing. There are workforce challenges. America is an aging country. There are more people over the age of 65 than under the age of 18 for the first time in American history. The birth rate is America is the lowest it has been in its history.
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