KODE Medical Focus — Rural Healthcare

KODE — Health experts worry a shortage of doctors is growing, a number that could grow to 40,000 or more by 2030.

And those challenges can be even worse in rural areas.

“So we’re a half an hour plus from any major hospital,” said Gary Wasson, Rural Patient.

So Gary Wasson of Anderson is thrilled a new doctor is based in his hometown.

“So to have a family practice doctor that can handle anybody from the baby up to the grandma and kind of do everything there is absolutely wonderful,” added Wasson.

Dr. Justin Dillingham is now working out of the Freeman Clinic of Anderson.

“I’m originally from a small town in Oklahoma. So to me, it feels like going back to where I came from. And I’m already liking it quite a bit seeing people that just live in their daily lives and help them be as healthy as they can be,” said Dr. Dillingham.

He points out a diagnosis for his Anderson cases can fall in a wider range due to the patients he’s seeing.

“Whereas even in a city like Joplin or Springfield, more people are maybe seeing more specialists for each of their conditions instead of one doctor that’s handling more things. So it’s a little higher acuity, I would say complexity, so you wouldn’t expect in a smaller town but a lot of times you Dukes peoples don’t want to drive that far. They can’t drive that far,” added Dr. Dillingham.

But he’s not the norm. The Association of American Medical Colleges estimates a need for 40 to 104,000 more doctors by 2030, with the shortage especially affecting rural areas.

“Practitioners. Yes, sure. Yeah. So generally speaking, rural areas are lacking in available healthcare providers. There’s not a great deal of draw to a rural setting because many providers choose to go into a larger academic setting. And for different reasons, different passions, they decide to go into an area that is greater in resources with medical providers. So the rural community is a challenge in itself in providing health care to an underserved population, but it’s also very challenging to find providers who desire to work in a rural community.” said Renee Denton, Freeman Neosho COO.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *