It’s been years since Big Sandy had a full-time doctor attending to the medical needs of our community. Why is that? The simple answer is the need for doctors exceeds the supply of doctors in the country. This allows doctors the privilege to be particular about where they want to live, if they wish to take call overnight on weekends and/or holidays, and how much they want to be paid for their services. The challenge for communities trying to recruit in this highly competitive market becomes justifying a move through pay, activities, spousal employment, housing and daycare options, and of course, an inviting community. Even though this sounds daunting, I believe there is hope, especially now that we have more space in the new clinic building and will have a CT Scanner soon. These additions should be attractive to a physician wanting to practice family medicine in a small rural community.
With the physician shortage, most rural (and even urban) communities have relied heavily on what we call mid-level providers. This includes Physician Assistants (PA) and Nurse Practitioners (NP). Both providers have specialized training in primary and emergency medicine and can provide nearly all services that a family medicine physician typically provides. At BSMC, we have both PAs and NPs on our medical staff. They are overseen by a part-time physician, either employed or contracted, to provide them with supervision, mentoring, and assistance with patient care.
Even though it is not as challenging to recruit mid-level providers to Big Sandy, the community is faced with many of the same struggles in recruitment. Competitive pay, housing, daycare, activities, and spousal employment all play a part in bringing a provider to the area. Once they are here, it can be challenging to retain them for the long term. We have seen three providers come and go over the last 5 years. Big Sandy is a great community to call home but imagine being on call to respond to the Emergency Room or the needs of the patients 24 hours a day for a week or two at a time. Coming in for a couple of hours in the middle of the night, and then still working a full day in the clinic, or sometimes getting interrupted in the clinic to care for someone in the Emergency Room certainly wears on a person. Even if the volume of calls is low, the constant awareness of the call radius (must be able to get to the facility in 30 minutes) takes its toll. Even something as simple as preparing a meal for the family or attending a sporting event must be thought through to ensure the ability to get away at the drop of a hat or in this case, the ring of a phone. While all medical professionals know this is, ‘the job’ we value our staff and our patient experience.
That’s why we’re making some changes among our providers. Starting in mid-September, our long-time Physician Assistant, Krystyl Kubeck, will become a clinic-only provider. By not taking ER call, she will have more time to devote to her clinic patients, continuing to provide the thorough and complete care that she has brought to the community for the last 10+ years. She will be in the clinic four days per week (barring holidays/vacation etc) and ready to serve you and your family. The ER will continue to be covered by employed or contract mid-level providers allowing us to continue to bring excellent ER and inpatient services to the Big Sandy Community. This is a win-win scenario, bringing focused, thorough care in the clinic and in the ER/hospital as well, ideally with less interruption in patient care in either setting. If you need a primary care provider, a DOT physical, sports physicals, or assistance with your chronic conditions and medication management, please make an appointment at the clinic today!
In the meantime, I’m still looking for that one physician who wants to call Big Sandy home.
