|
 |
|
Where Have All The Doctors Gone?
 |
Disclaimer:
Thomas Segel is responsible for this content, which is not edited by the Wilson County News or wilsoncountynews.com. |
November 21, 2009 | 1 comment
Harlingen, Texas, November 21, 2009: I had to visit my doctor the other day. I only had a forty-minute wait before being checked into an examining room, followed by another thirty-minute wait before my doctor walked through the door. It wasn’t too bad this time and I did take my latest W.E.B. Griffin adventure book along to keep me company. My wife also had a visit to her doctor this week. She too had about two hours of waiting time. All of this delay happened even with appointments scheduled weeks in advance.
The problem seems to be far reaching. Long delays before doctors can examine patients are the rule, rather than the exception. The problem is brought about by two very important factors. First, doctors must schedule more and more people very tightly to obtain the volume of business they need to meet expenses and gain a profit. The second problem is, we have a huge shortage of primary care physicians all across the country.
It is estimated that we now have about 700,000 doctors serving patients in the United States. Of that number, more than 600,000 have elected to enter specialized fields of medicine, ranging from surgery to dermatology. They are rarely the first responders in the case of family emergencies.
This leaves only about 100,000 doctors who are actively pursuing careers in primary care or family medicine. These are the doctors patients most often wish to see. Unfortunately, these are also the very healthcare providers that are in short supply.
All too often, a person needing primary care never gets to see a doctor at all. In cities and towns across the country nurse practitioners have taken over the role of providing care for most of the common complaints seen during office visits.
On top of the physician shortage problem is the aging of medical providers. Just to fill the vacancies brought about by retirement, medical schools need to graduate 7,000 to 10,000 doctors a year. Those numbers replace losses, but do nothing to add numbers to a profession that is already experiencing shortages.
Now we have a new element inserted into the existing serious problem mix. The Obama Administration and the Democrat Congress plan to add somewhere around 40 million new patients to already overloaded medical practices. The current bill, more than 2,000 pages long, has a lot of pork and special interest money attached to it, but does not include a single dollar to provide for more physicians to handle the increased patient load.
We already have small towns and cities with no hospitals and few doctors. We have blighted urban areas where no doctors will establish practices. We have large population centers where people spend entire days waiting for a few minutes with a medical practitioner. What will the scene look like when we add another 40 million people seeking immediate care? From this vantage point it looks as if rationed medical care is fast becoming a reality.
|
| |
| « Previous Blog Entry (November 20, 2009) |
| |
| Your Opinions and Comments |
Rock'n chair Rambler
Over Taxed, TX
November 22, 2009 8:34am
|
|
|
Share your comment or opinion on this story!
You must be logged in to post comments:
|
| Other Tell It Like It Is |
Running For Office – They Might Want To Heed... (August 27, 2010)
The November Election – Have Candidates Heard... (August 26, 2010)
Guy Gabaldon – Do You Remember ? (August 24, 2010)
Should Our Motto Feature ‘Apple Pie’? (August 20, 2010)
Mandates and Blackmail (August 19, 2010)
Fair and Unbiased Reporting – Does It Exist? (August 18, 2010)
Helping Put Their Best Foot Forward (August 12, 2010)
What Is The Military Worth To Washington? (August 12, 2010)
What Is The Military Worth To Washington? (August 10, 2010)
Can America Fail? Read The History of Sparta. (August 6, 2010)
“We The People” Are Searching For Lost Honesty... (August 5, 2010)
“We The People” Are Searching For Lost Honesty (August 3, 2010)
Where Are You Doctor? Where Are You Nurse? (August 31, 2009)
Forgotten Hero Remembered (August 26, 2009)
How To Hide The Truth – Washington Style (August 23, 2009)
From Tea Parties to The 912 Project, Americans... (August 21, 2009)
America’s Leaders – Or Congressional Cowards? (August 20, 2009)
Searching for a Hero or a Fraud (August 15, 2009)
Where Do We Find Good Leaders? (August 13, 2009)
The Enemies List Aftermath (August 9, 2009)
Making The Enemies List (August 7, 2009)
We Didn’t Elect You To Do This! (August 3, 2009)
In The Real World Poor Performance Means a Pink Slip (July 31, 2009)
The Phantom 46 Million (July 21, 2009)
Today’s Wonderful World of Taxes (July 20, 2009)
Are We Really Crazy Enough To Trust Our Government? (July 19, 2009)
Loaves and Fishes Struggles to Aid Homeless and Poor (July 16, 2009)
How To Fail A Child – The American Foster Care Way (July 13, 2009)
Who Will Really Suffer The Little Children? (July 10, 2009)
Hot Dogs and Fireworks, or Unalienable Rights? (July 4, 2009)
What If Diogenes Shined His Lantern on Washington??? (July 1, 2009)
|
|
|
|
|
|
