11-09-2012, 05:49 PM
Most clinic systems of this sort have a board of directors. It's their responsibility to oversee the management they have put in place and to represent the interests of the patients. I suggest finding out who the members of the governing board are, learning something about their backgrounds, and approaching them in a calm and business-like manner with your concerns. Dakine, I can tell from your post that you can write a good letter. An edited version of that post could be the basis such a letter. Use those communication skills to get others to contact the board, too. If patient input is allowed at a meeting, attend, but be sure to keep things civil. Shouting and name calling will negate a good message.
Physician turnover on the Big Island is not limited to Bay Clinic. I am a Kaiser member, and I have been fortunate to have the same primary care physician for over six years. She is not taking new patients, however, and everyone else I know who has Kaiser has been shuffled from one doctor to another over the past three years. This became worse when several large employers began offering Kaiser, partly due to the lack of HMSA doctors willing to take new patients. Physician retention is a real problem here and could easily reach crisis level.
Physician turnover on the Big Island is not limited to Bay Clinic. I am a Kaiser member, and I have been fortunate to have the same primary care physician for over six years. She is not taking new patients, however, and everyone else I know who has Kaiser has been shuffled from one doctor to another over the past three years. This became worse when several large employers began offering Kaiser, partly due to the lack of HMSA doctors willing to take new patients. Physician retention is a real problem here and could easily reach crisis level.