Geographic Distribution: News

School in Rural Virginia May Be the Answer to the Region's Doctor Shortage
Roanoke News - June 6, 2008
"A nationwide physician's shortage could make it even more difficult to get a doctor's appointment in the future. But there is a ray of hope for our region. On Saturday, 144 local students will become doctors as the 2008 class graduates from Edward Via Virginia College of Osteopathic Medicine in Blacksburg. And many of the students will stay in the area." Read More...

South Plains Faces Shortage of Rural Doctors
Lubbock Online - May 18, 2006
"Every day, Dr. Ben Edwards sees between 30 and 50 patients at his small clinic in Post, a rural town in Garza County. 'I have patients who travel over 60 miles,' said the 33-year-old physician who started his practice at the 5,000-square-foot clinic in 2002, after graduating from the University of Texas Medical School at Houston. 'For some it's not easy because about 50 percent are 50 years and older and a few have serious medical problems.' But those patients are willing to make the one-hour, one-way trip because he is the only doctor in the county of fewer than 5,000 residents." Read More...

Towns Need Doctors, and the Doctors Need Visas
New York Times - October 1, 2008
"Many studies show that newly trained American doctors, burdened with student loans and seeking status and challenges, gravitate toward urban centers. A 2007 study of physician recruitment by the Center for Health Workforce Studies at the State University of New York at Albany found that physicians practicing upstate were more likely to have come from outside New York than their downstate counterparts." Read More...

In Need of a Doctor in Grand Junction
Grand Junction Free Press - October 17, 2008
"Jim and Thelma Humphrey say they can't find a doctor in the Grand Valley who will accept them as new patients. In June, their physician of 15 years quit medicine, citing massive paperwork as his reason for leaving." Read More...

Doctors Are Where Patients Aren't
The Daily Yonder - February 12, 2009
"Most of the nation's health resources are located, of course, where there are high concentrations of physicians -- about 4000 ZIP codes in the United States. But the majority of elderly Americans (70%) live outside of these regions of best access, as do 65% of all Americans. Health care design we have now dictates that most Americans and their families must drive great distances for complex medical needs. But elderly Americans tend to have the least mobility. Greater distances mean more out of pocket costs for health care." Read More…

Doctors in Short Supply in Rural Maryland
Baltimore Sun - March 1, 2009
"There are not enough primary-care doctors setting up practice…leaving some residents without access to basic health care and leading to more costly and serious illnesses, doctors say. Those doctors - and many specialists - are reluctant to leave the city for the country, where they typically get paid less, work more and find fewer job opportunities for their spouses, who aren't always ready to give up the trappings of life near an urban area. Lawmakers - who worked on two task forces last year that looked at different parts of the issue - are considering both short- and long-term fixes. Solutions could include a loan forgiveness program for primary-care doctors and specialists in rural areas who agree to remain in those communities for a certain number of years." Read More…

Waxman Wants Universal Coverage But More Doctors Too
CQ Healthbeat - March 24, 2009
"House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman said Tuesday that a congressional overhaul of the health care system must not only provide for universal coverage but also for more primary care doctors and nurses to ensure that an insurance card actually gives the holder access to treatment. Witnesses at the hearing suggested various approaches to improving access, ranging from sharply increasing the supply of primary care physicians and nurses, to strengthening Medicaid to addressing racial, ethnic and geographic disparities in access to care. GOP lawmakers stressed the need to increase the supply of doctors by revisions to the medical malpractice system they said have left certain parts of the country without access to specialists." Read More…

Proposed Bill Would Increase Number of Health-Care Professionals in Underserved Areas
The Daily Texan - March 24, 2009
"At a press conference in the state Capitol Monday, Rep. Warren Chisum, R-Pampa, said a proposed bill would help increase the number of primary-care physicians, dentists and other health-care professionals in underserved areas of Texas. The bill would create the Texas Health Care Access Fund, which would pay for up to $160,000 of medical-school debt after four years of work in a shortage area." Read More…

Doctor Shortage Looms In Wisconsin: Demand For Primary Care Doctors May Go Up By 65 Percent By 2030
Madison News - April 6, 2009
"The Wisconsin Council on Medical Education and Workforce said the greatest need is for doctors specializing in family practice, internal medicine, and hospitalists. In other words, doctors serving as primary-care physicians. The report also predicts that demand for primary-care doctors will increase by 33 percent by the year 2020 and as much as 65 percent by the year 2030." Read More…

Doctor Shortages Hit Maryland
Frederick News Post - April 5, 2009
"The Maryland Hospital Association commissioned a study on the doctor shortage last year, the most rigorous ever performed in the area, according to association spokeswoman Nancy Fiedler. After adjusting for part-time and full-time status and the amount of time dedicated to seeing patients, the study found Maryland has the equivalent of 178 active physicians per 100,000 residents. The U.S. average is 212 per 100,000. Using guidelines from several sources, including the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey and the Graduate Medical Education National Advisory Council, the study found that Western Maryland has a shortage in primary care and 19 of 28 identified specialties. The study predicts this shortage will expand to 21 specialties by 2015." Read More…

Rural Doctor Shortage Called a "Crisis" in Washington
The Seattle Times - April 18, 2009
"Rural areas in Washington and elsewhere are facing a shortage of physicians — and the problem is getting worse. Even as the population of older people and ethnic minorities continues to grow in those communities, the shortage is worsening as many current rural doctors reach retirement age and fewer available candidates emerge from U.S. medical schools." Read More…

Doctors from Afar Meeting Rural Oregon's Needs
The Oregonian - April 17, 2009
"Across rural Oregon, more people travel long distances to see a doctor, or wait weeks or months for appointments. It takes as long as two years for some health centers to recruit a single physician, because many want to work for better pay in metropolitan areas. The remedy to this crisis comes from India, the Philippines, Canada, Syria, Pakistan and more than 20 other far-flung nations." Read More…

Underserved or Just Undercounted?
Ventura County Star - May 17, 2009
"Thousands of Ventura County residents may not be getting proper healthcare because they don't have access to a family doctor. The shortage is almost certain to grow worse because a number of primary care physicians are getting closer to retirement and fewer medical school graduates are choosing to practice family medicine." Read More…

Doctor Shortage in Rural Minnesota Reaches Crisis
Minnesota Public Radio - May 18, 2009
"Rural Minnesota has 13 percent of the state's population, but only 5 percent of all Minnesota physicians practice there, according to the Minnesota Hospital Association. With a wave of doctors nearing retirement, things are likely to get worse. For patients, the shortage means longer waits to get medical attention. The most critical need is for doctors who practice family medicine." Read More…

Physician Distribution: An Old Problem Receives New Attention
Medscape News - May 14, 2009
"From President Obama, to members of Congress, to federal and private agencies concerned with the issue, officials in Washington and beyond are pointing to the need for more physicians and other healthcare workers, especially in primary care. But as essential as it is, the push for more physicians and healthcare professionals will not by itself solve a related workforce problem: the maldistribution of physicians and other healthcare professionals across the nation, a problem that has left rural, frontier, and some inner-city communities especially vulnerable." Read More…

Need For Rural Doctors Critical
Lawrence Journal World & News - May 11, 2009
"Wanted: rural Kansas doctors. 'There's a need nationwide for primary care, and it's only exacerbated — made worse in rural and underserved areas, and Kansas is a state that is mostly rural and has some real problems,' said Dr. Heidi Chumley, senior associate dean for medical education at Kansas University Medical Center." Read More…

Rural Minnesota Clinics, Hospitals Struggle for New Doctors
Grand Forks Herald - May 10, 2009
"A growing shortage of rural physicians is taking its toll, and patients are feeling the crunch: Longer waits for non-emergency appointments. More care delegated to mid-level practitioners. Primary care physicians refusing to take on new patients. A number of factors have contributed to the shortage: Fewer medical students opting for primary care, challenges with reimbursement, the rising cost of medical school, and the lifestyle goals of a new generation of physicians." Read More…

Rural Areas Struggle to Provide Care
Abeline Reporter - June 13, 2009
"Health care experts have coined the term 'medically disenfranchised' to describe the more than 60 million Americans who lack regular care. In many rural Big Country communities, gaps in care are being plugged by a patchwork of charitable and for-profit health clinics." Read More…

Parma Health Ministry Free Clinic Turns Away Newly Uninsured Patients Away for Lack of Doctors
Plain Dealer Reporter - June 18, 2009
"Deborah Hannan dreads picking up the phone at Parma Health Ministry. Since March, the free clinic, which has only two volunteer primary care physicians who see patients in the evenings, has had to turn people away. Hannan fields about a half-dozen calls a day, mostly from the recently uninsured. All she can do is add their names to the ever-growing waiting list or refer them elsewhere." Read More…

Perry Signs Bill to Lure More Doctors to Rural Areas
Amarillo News - June 18, 2009
"Dozens of rural counties in West Texas suffering a doctor shortage - especially 27 that do not have even one physician - got some welcome news Wednesday. Gov. Rick Perry signed House Bill 2154, which will help 114 medically underserved counties lure as many as 900 new doctors." Read More…

Shortage of Rural Health Care Workforce Hits Rural America Hard
Center for Rural Affairs, September 2009
"Rural America faces a critical shortage of primary care providers, jeopardizing the nation's ability to meet the health care needs of the rural population. Primary care providers offer routine care, health promotion and disease prevention, and treat chronic conditions - all fundamental needs of the rural population." Read More…

As Nation Discusses Health Care, Texas Doctor Shortage Expected to Worsen
Statesman, September 6, 2009
"As talk on national health care reform centers on providing insurance for everyone, Texas and the nation are already struggling with a shortage of primary care doctors that is expected to keep growing. In Texas, 114 of the 254 counties have been designated by the federal government as primary-care shortage areas. Some clinics spend months trying to lure doctors, and some patients drive one or two counties away for even the most routine health care." Read More…

Caring for Communities: Providers Bring Good Medicine to Small-Town America
American Profile, September 3, 2009
"About 50 million Americans live in areas without access to basic medical and dental care, according to the National Health Service Corps (NHSC), which Congress established in 1970 to recruit health care professionals to medically underserved areas. To remedy this disparity, the NHSC provides scholarships and forgives loans to primary care physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, dentists, certified midwives, mental health professionals and dental hygienists in exchange for at least two years of work in those settings." Read More…

Medical Schools, Programs Help Rural Students Become Doctors in Rural Areas
December 6, 2009 – Thetowntalk.com
"The Central Louisiana Area Health Education Center hopes they'll return to those small towns after medical school. To reach this goal, the four AHECs in Louisiana partner with LSU Health Sciences Center to help identify and select pre-med college students from small towns for special activities to help them." Read More…

Overburdened Rural Doctors Provide a Lifeline for the Isolated
December 6, 2009 – Dallasnews.com
"Dr. David Fedro steers his van packed with medical supplies over potholed streets. He passes a cemetery and rolling pastures, venturing miles from his clinic in Marlin. Many of his patients are too frail to make the trip into town. Twice a week, he makes house calls with his nurse, like country doctors of old. Fedro and his colleagues, Dr. J. Scott Crockett and Dr. Dileep Bhateley, are the only full-time doctors in Falls County." Read More…

The Only Doctor in Town
December 5, 2009 – Washington Post
"Practicing family medicine in a place like Post puts Edwards in the minority, a fact that is not lost on policymakers in Washington. A physician shortage has long plagued rural areas. Young doctors saddled with medical school debt are more often drawn to such lucrative specialties as radiology or anesthesiology in big cities or suburban areas, where they can earn double the $120,000 to $140,000 salary of a rural family practitioner." Read More…

Physicians in Short Supply in Rural Missouri
January 5, 2010 – Columbia Missourian
"Gravel roads, small towns and rows of corn that go on for miles — these are images of rural Missouri. More often than not, doctors are missing from that picture. Eighty percent of Missouri's counties don't have enough physicians. Many of those counties are rural." Read More…

No Country for Health Care, Part 1: Far From Care
January 4, 2010 – The Texas Tribune
"Dozens of rural Texas counties have no primary care doctors, no hospitals, no pharmacies. Many Texans live more than an hour from basic medical care. Some border communities have so little health care that U.S. citizens cross over into Mexico to get it. It's a void medical experts say contributes to poor health and even death, as rural residents succumb to preventative diseases that they don't have the doctors, money, or transportation to treat." Read More…

No Country for Health Care, Part 3: The Shrinking Rural Ranks
January 6, 2010 – The Texas Tribune
Politically speaking, it's no time to be an advocate for rural health care. In the last House Speaker's race, and on the state's health care regulatory boards, rural lawmakers say they've been outnumbered and under-represented. The looming redistricting battle will only shrink their ranks. They're finding it more and more difficult to teach an increasingly urban Legislature about the crisis in rural health care." Read More…

Program Will Groom Students into Rural Doctors
January 20, 2010 – Kearneyhub.com
"The University of Nebraska at Kearney wants to increase the number of physicians in rural Nebraska. UNK entered an agreement with the University of Nebraska Medical Center to establish the Kearney Health Opportunities Program." Read More…

Medicare Doctors Waning in Rural Arizona
January 24, 2010 – The Arizona Republic
"At the Prescott Valley Primary and Urgent Care Clinic, Tom White made his way past a woman wearing neck and knee braces and an elderly man sniffling and coughing. Urgent-care centers often are frequented by people who need quick access to medical help. They have a sprain. They have the flu. But for White, 72, the bustling clinic is where he goes for his primary health care." Read More…

A Plan to Help Places Hurting for Doctors
February 16, 2010 – Detroit Free Press
"With a statewide shortage of primary care doctors, particularly in urban areas such as Detroit, Michigan needs more physicians. Michigan has launched a program that offers grants to primary care doctors who work in shortage areas, and help to repay medical school loans. Michigan also hopes to tap into federal incentives to improve doctor practices, and to coordinate and improve care by assigning each uninsured patient to a single doctor." Read More…

UMD Hosts a Rural Pre-Med Workshop
February 12, 2010 – WDIO.com

Kansas Program Targets Rural Students
February 25, 2010 – The Abeline Reflector-Chronicle
Once they've seen the lights of the big city, it's hard to get medical students back to the farm. Each year, the Kansas Scholars in Rural Health program, administered by the University of Kansas School of Medicine in Wichita, selects up to 14 college juniors from rural areas who intend to become physicians in a primary care field, such as family medicine, internal medicine or general pediatrics and then practice in rural Kansas areas." Read More…

Rural Health Risk Factor: A Shortage of Doctors
March 6, 2010 – Wisconsin State Journal
"There are one-fourth fewer doctors per person in rural areas than in urban areas, and half as many specialists, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. That means people often must wait for primary care and travel to cities for specialty care - even for services such as chemotherapy that involve several visits a month." Read More…

Program to Help Remedy Shortage of Rural Doctors
April 19, 2010 – Louisville Courier-Journal
"Doctor shortages are a long-standing problem in largely rural Kentucky, and some experts say the situation may continue to worsen as tens of thousands of additional Kentuckians become insured under health care reform." Read More…

Rural Hospitals Wary
June 1, 2010 – Omaha World-Herald
"U.S. lawmakers and presidents repeatedly have acted to keep rural hospitals open, and the new health care law has several pro-rural provisions supported by both political parties, despite the bill's intensely partisan debate. Nevertheless, rural hospital administrators and others worry that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, signed into law in March, will cut revenue and curtail medical services at rural hospitals." Read More...

UW Program Aims to Fill Need for Doctors
June 12, 2010 – Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
"Fritz is one of eight students in a new program at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health for students interested in practicing in low-income urban areas. The program, known as TRIUMPH, for Training in Urban Medicine and Public Health, is designed to provide the students with experiences largely absent from the traditional curriculum for medical school." Read More…

Local Medical Students Conduct Rotations in Rural Primary Care Settings
July 20, 2010 – Alexandria Town Talk
"During the month of June, three local second-year medical students participated in the Primary Care Rural Preceptorship Program to gain hands-on experience regarding medical care in a rural setting. The Preceptorship Program is designed to expose medical students to the professional, business and social aspects of a family medicine, pediatric or internal medicine practice in a rural and/or medically underserved setting." Read More...

Secretary Announces Appointment of Committee to Review Criteria for the Designation of Medically Underserved Areas and Health Professional Shortage Areas
July 21, 2010 - Washington, D.C.

Medical Education Futures Study

George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services

Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation

Geographic Distribution: News