The statistics alone are discouraging. Combine the statistics with shortages of doctors, nurses, and mental health professionals and difficulties in delivering emergency medical services in rural areas, and a bleak picture emerges. Mix that scenario with a lack of affordable health care insurance for rural and working families along with inadequate levels of medical services in "frontier" areas and on North Dakota's Reservations, and you've defined the contributing elements of a growing health care crisis in North Dakota.

Funding for Life Support is provided by a grant from USDA Rural Development