Doctor Shortage Accelerating in Colorado
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February 22, 2010
DENVER - Keeping the doctor away isn't always a great thing - just ask people in rural Colorado and some inner-city neighborhoods, where the shortage of medical professionals is growing. While some recruitment is happening due to loan repayment, training and other programs intended to address the problem, some in the field say public policy still may stand in the way.
Lou Ann Wilroy is CEO of the Colorado Rural Health Center, which serves as the state's office of rural health. Her office collaborates with health professionals throughout the state to come up with solutions. She says beefing up loan repayment programs is a good place to start.
"Primary care physicians are getting out of their training with an average of $250,000 in loan debt, so loan repayment is a very effective incentive to assist with placing health professionals in underserved areas."
She says a shortage of more than 2,200 primary care providers is expected by 2025 in Colorado, and not just of doctors.
"We have an 11 percent shortage of nurses statewide, and we expect this will triple in the next 10 years."
Looking at these projections, she suggests many Coloradans may want to start thinking seriously about making a career in health care.
"The number of health care job openings in Colorado is expected to grow by 20 percent over the next 10 years, but the pool of health professionals is expected to shrink by 17 percent."
Some of the collaborative's other policy suggestions include better reimbursement for doctors, more funding for health profession education programs and more clinical experiences for new doctors during their residencies. The collaborative was recently awarded a grant from The Colorado Trust to continue its work. Wilroy says another set of policy recommendations are expected to be finished in June.