01-08-2018, 09:45 AM
Sorry you’re having such a hard time securing a Dr. Mearth11. Too many of us are having similar problems.
The Doctor shortage in the State is really critical. I think I read that on the B.I. we are 200 Doctors short. That’s a lot.
I worked for a Dr. in Hilo who had over 5000 patients. If even one Dr. retires, that’s a lot of people who have no Physician and most here are at Retirement age as are Nurses.. The difference in the Nursing shortage is that we are Graduating Nurses yearly both from the ADN Program at HCC and the BSN Program at UH. here in Hilo as well as on other islands.
In my experience, the Loan programs which offer 20% repayment for every year worked in Hawaii after graduation are a winner. In my class only one person who received the DOH loan moved out of state (and had to repay loan immediately). All the rest of us stayed here and worked off our loans.
I think this kind of incentive to stay in Hawaii really works, but is definitely best for people who already live here. It’s hard for anybody new to acclimate to Hawaii and many come and go pretty fast.
Fortunately for us, we do have the John A. Burns School of Medicine, and I hope to see many more Physicians from Hawaii taking advantage of an education there. I would love to see lots more Hawaiian Drs. here who understand the local culture and people.
Lastly, I’d like to say that Doctors are just people, some committed and compassionate and others neither committed nor compassionate. They don’t have to seek patients and can afford to pick and chose who they want to serve. This past Nov. I called one Dr. to ask if they were taking new patients and they never called back. I called them again and was told I “was on the list” of people who’d called and they would contact me later. Apparently, sight unseen, they decided I wasn’t the optimal patient and I never heard from them again. There were no red flags. I am healthy, not on Quest, no pain meds, yet still I did not even get a call back. (stuck with Kaiser for yet another year)
As a Health Care Professional, I always had good Insurance and Medical Care, until I retired. Now, I’m in the same leaky boat as everybody else, hoping the Dr. shortage is rectified before more people come to unnecessary harm or have to leave Hawaii.
The Doctor shortage in the State is really critical. I think I read that on the B.I. we are 200 Doctors short. That’s a lot.
I worked for a Dr. in Hilo who had over 5000 patients. If even one Dr. retires, that’s a lot of people who have no Physician and most here are at Retirement age as are Nurses.. The difference in the Nursing shortage is that we are Graduating Nurses yearly both from the ADN Program at HCC and the BSN Program at UH. here in Hilo as well as on other islands.
In my experience, the Loan programs which offer 20% repayment for every year worked in Hawaii after graduation are a winner. In my class only one person who received the DOH loan moved out of state (and had to repay loan immediately). All the rest of us stayed here and worked off our loans.
I think this kind of incentive to stay in Hawaii really works, but is definitely best for people who already live here. It’s hard for anybody new to acclimate to Hawaii and many come and go pretty fast.
Fortunately for us, we do have the John A. Burns School of Medicine, and I hope to see many more Physicians from Hawaii taking advantage of an education there. I would love to see lots more Hawaiian Drs. here who understand the local culture and people.
Lastly, I’d like to say that Doctors are just people, some committed and compassionate and others neither committed nor compassionate. They don’t have to seek patients and can afford to pick and chose who they want to serve. This past Nov. I called one Dr. to ask if they were taking new patients and they never called back. I called them again and was told I “was on the list” of people who’d called and they would contact me later. Apparently, sight unseen, they decided I wasn’t the optimal patient and I never heard from them again. There were no red flags. I am healthy, not on Quest, no pain meds, yet still I did not even get a call back. (stuck with Kaiser for yet another year)
As a Health Care Professional, I always had good Insurance and Medical Care, until I retired. Now, I’m in the same leaky boat as everybody else, hoping the Dr. shortage is rectified before more people come to unnecessary harm or have to leave Hawaii.