Conference discusses lack of Indigenous healthcare access [Video]

RAPID CITY, S.D. (KOTA) – Ideally, people always monitor their health. But for some communities, it can be harder to access health care.

The Holiday Inn in downtown Rapid City hosted the South Dakota State Medical Association’s 2024 Annual Leadership Conference Friday, May 31.

The challenges for Indigenous communities accessing health care throughout South Dakota were the topic for this year’s South Dakota State Medical Association conference.

“Cancer disparities which involve cancer treatment, access to screening tests such as low-dose cancer. CT for lung cancer screenings, also for colonoscopies, cervical cancer screening, these are hard to access on the reservations,” President of SDSMA Denise Hanisch said.

The conference included lectures from medical professionals throughout the state and country who spoke on the imbalance of health care in Native communities.

“It’s a multifactorial problem. I mean we have economic impacts, the social determinants of health, transportation challenges, if they can even …