By Chad Koenen

Publisher

With the sun rising over the New York Mills sky line in the east, Dr. Rachel Grieger prepares for a busy day of patients in her dental practice just steps away from New York Mills School and the community pool. Only a fraction of the lights in the otherwise dark office are on, as the sun begins to peak through the windows of her business. As she takes a break from pulling patient files and looking over her slate of appointments for the day, the longtime dentist reflects on a career spanning over 40 years, all-but a year of which has been spent in her adopted hometown of NY Mills.  ¶  Retirement is on her mind, but what is typically a joyous occasion for people in the workforce has turned into concern as her dental practice is facing an unknown future in just a few short months.  ¶  “This is very bitter sweet. I am not counting the days at all,” said Grieger of her impending retirement. 

As NY Mills’ only dentist, and with the next closest dentist being some 10 miles away on Highway 10 on either side of the community, Grieger has spent several years trying to find the right person to take over her practice when she retires.

While she could have hung up her mouth mirror, suction device and x-ray machine years ago, the 68-year-old dentist has been keeping her practice going in order to ensure the very people who have supported her and her family through the years receive the dental care they need as she looks for a buyer for her bustling business in town. 

“I have people I have been seeing since 1982, who have supported me. How can you turn your back on that,” she asked.

Grieger isn’t alone in facing an uncertain future in the dental industry, especially in rural Minnesota. Last year the state of Minnesota granted just 89 dental licenses for the entire state. With an already alarming shortage of dentists across the region, and with a large group of baby boomers set to enter retirement in the near future, a looming shortfall of dentists and dental hygienists will only be compounded in the next few years. 

Even though she has kept her business open in the hopes of finding someone to take over her practice, which includes approximately 3,000 patients, Grieger has set a deadline of March 2024 to close her dental practice should a buyer not be found. 

However, before closing the doors on her business for good, Grieger is making another push to see if someone in the region knows of a person who may be interested in taking over a turn key dental practice in the heart of NY Mills. She hopes to find someone before March 2024, a date that isn’t necessarily set in stone if the right person can be found to take over the practice. After all, Grieger said she would be willing to stay on in the transition or to bridge the gap until a new person can take over if necessary. Longtime dental hygienist Holly Gudmundson was also willing to stay on should a new owner take over, but to date, no one has been found. 

Should no one be found, the doors will be locked for good and her approximately 3,000 patients will be left scrambling to find another dentist. That’s why now when she finishes her exams she adds one more, yet all-the-difficult talking point, to her discussion about the need to floss, brush and overall dental hygiene. 

“We have been encouraging people to start looking, because if I can’t get this sold they will need to go somewhere else,” she said. “I suspect if we close it will be a windfall for dentists in the area, but it won’t be for NY Mills.”

With a shortage of dentists already in the area, Grieger said she is concerned that not all of her patients will be able to find someone to take care of their dental hygiene needs should she not be able to sell the business by March. That means patients may need to drive to bigger communities an hour away, instead of coming to a dentist in their own backyard, which also will hurt the greater NY Mills community. After all, the local dentist practice sees an average of 20 per day, many of whom live outside of the immediate community. Less people at a dentist in town, means less people stopping by the grocery store, filling up with gas, stopping by the bakery or even getting a candy bar after finding out they dodged the cavity bullet at their appointment. 

“The financial impact in the community to have a dentist is immeasurable to town,” said Grieger.

Grieger said she is grateful for all of the support she has received from her patients and the community over the years. After all, when she came to NY Mills there were very few female dentists in the profession—something that made becoming a successful rural Minnesota dentists even more challenging. 

“NY Mills has been very good to me,” said Grieger. “I came to NY Mills at a time when people who look like me weren’t your dentist.”

While she was raised in the Twin Cities, NY Mills had always been a huge part of her life growing up. Her dad’s family lived in NY Mills and she would spend nearly every summer roaming the woods and the outer reaches of the sprawling oasis just outside of the city limits. 

“I always wanted to live in Mills. I wanted the family farm,” she said. “I could have practiced in the Cities, but I wanted to have a more personal relationship with my patients.”

Grieger started practicing dentistry in NY Mills in 1982. She practiced dentistry alongside Dr. Morstad until 1983, before leaving to work at a practice in Crookston for a short period of time. When Grieger originally came to town she said that if a partnership with Dr. Morstad and herself didn’t work out she agreed leave town for a year before coming back to NY Mills.

Just a few months after leaving NY Mills, Grieger was approached by a group of medical professionals from Fergus Falls to come back to the community and start a practice in the clinic in town. She opened her practice in 1984 in the clinic and moved to her current location near the school in 1992. 

In addition to her practice, Grieger has utilized a number of specialists in the region throughout her career to ensure her patients are receiving the best possible care. 

  “I have a wonderful group of specialists and I have used them a lot through my career here and I hope they have made the life of my patients easier,” she said. 

Looking back on her life and career, Grieger said the community has been not only supportive of her business, but her family as well. She shared stories of local residents “watching over” her children growing up as any small town would and always being there for one another when someone was in a time of need. It’s that special bond the community has had with her that makes the thought of retirement a tough pill to swallow. 

“It does sound very cliche, but it is the people,” she said of what has kept her going all these years.

Grieger has had a few people look at her practice over the years, in fact she had one individual who wanted to take over the practice, but his wife said she did not want to live in rural Minnesota. During a tour of the community, Grieger said she showed the family the warmth that can be found in the largely Finnish community. 

“I walked into the bakery and got three hugs. I said that’s what you get when you come to NY Mills,” she said.

While her dental practice is currently listed with a broker, Grieger said anyone who may be interested in purchasing her practice can contact her at Grieger Dental at 385-3130. Her hope is someone who may know of a person looking to move to rural Minnesota and be a dentist will consider NY Mills in order to not only take care of her current patients, but the next generation of residents as well.