U of M pilots new healthcare program for humans and pets

ST PAUL, Minn. — The University of Minnesota is piloting a new program to bring human healthcare and animal healthcare under the same roof.

The university’s College of Veterinary Medicine and College of Medicine received a grant to help bring this project to the Twin Cities.

“The One Health Clinic grant program is a pilot to work with other health professional schools at the university to be able to provide medical care to pets and their families together,” said the College of Veterinary Medicine Dean Laura Molgaard.

Molgaard said the clinic will be run by students with faculty supervision.

“It’s great. A professional education is important for students. It’s important for them to learn about each other, and each other’s professions. It’s important for them to learn with each other,” Molgaard said.

She said the program will help people in vulnerable situations. 

“We know that people are very attached to their pets and they’re more likely to seek care from themselves if they can keep their pets with them, especially people in really vulnerable situations,” she said. “People who are unhoused or in vulnerable housing situations might forego their own health care because they can’t bring their pets with them.”

“The One Health Clinic experience is totally unique for students. It provides the opportunity for interprofessional collaboration,” said One Health Clinic Project Manager Anna Kucera.

Kucera said they will have a community board to help advise.

“We’re looking to figure out how often to hold the clinic, where to best hold it, whether or not the clinic should be fully stationary, partly mobile, that all remains to be seen,” Kucera said.

She said they will finish their community assessment within six months, and then host their first clinic next year.

She said the plan to focus on people who don’t have regular access to healthcare and families who are underinsured or uninsured.

This summer they hosted a trial to see how it would all work.

“We learned that there a wide variety of complex health challenges faced by both people and their pets and often times in order to provide a treatment plan that’s going to work for the whole family we need to look at other resources whether it’s housing need, or food support for people, or the pets who love them,” she said.

Kucera said people will often put the needs of their pets above their own.

“What we hear over and over again is that people would rather seek care for their companion animal than they would for themselves, so the One Health Clinic can be a bridge to getting humans the healthcare that they need,” Kucera said.

The grant will fund the pilot program for three years. Kucera and Molgaard are hopeful they will partner with other healthcare professional schools like pharmacy and dentistry.