Idaho Takes Action to Prevent Doctor Shortage

BOISE, Idaho — The future is now in terms of the long-predicted American doctor shortage. The medical field has been rife with talk about an anticipated nationwide doctor shortage for some time, but the reality of the situation is already beginning to hit in many areas, which led Idaho’s Republican Governor C.L. Otter to propose preemptive action in his new state budget.

In early January, the governor included a call for additional medical school funding in his State of the State address. The governor’s proposal involved increasing the funding his state provides for students to attend the University of Washington Medical School. Idaho doesn’t have any in-state medical schools, so the state provides funding for 20 students to attend the neighboring state’s school each year.

Otter told the legislature he would like to increase the number of students from his state covered under the WWAMI program, a collaboration between Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho. The change, increasing the number of students from 20 to 25, would constitute a $250,000 annual increase in the amount of funding dedicated to the program. The state currently allocates $5 million to the program each year. Otter also called on the legislature to approve $109,000 in funding for medical residency programs in Boise.

The governor explained the increased financial support was necessary because his state ranks second to last in terms of the amount of physicians per capita, with Mississippi being the only state that faired worst in that category. He also cited a report by StateImpact Idaho, an affiliate of NPR, which indicated that 41.5 percent of all physicians in the state were 55 or older.

The issue of doctor shortages is also beginning to hit home in other states. The Healthcare Association of New York State recently released a survey of 110 hospitals outside of New York City, determining that the state was already short by 1,200 physicians. The report added that the situation was not improving, with 2,500 doctors retiring or leaving the area in 2011, compared to 2,400 new physicians recruited to the state during the same period.

The problem was even worse in some specialized fields of medical practice. The survey found that 75 percent of respondents reported their emergency departments sometimes went without coverage for specialty issues, leading emergency room patients to be transferred to a neighboring hospital for care. In addition, 32 percent of respondents indicated they had to reduce or eliminate some medical services in 2011 because of personnel shortages.

Meanwhile, Vice Dean Dr. Norman Ferrari, at West Virginia University’s medical school, recently reported student loan debt could lead to a shortage in general practitioners in his state as students chose to go into more lucrative specialty medical fields to pay back their loans faster.

“The debt is starting to influence their decision making,” Ferrari told the Charleston Daily Mail.