RECENTLY in The Gazette, Newman Regional Health CEO Terry Lambert wrote about the challenges of recruiting and keeping doctors working in our community.
Doctors used to spend their careers in one community, but now they are becoming more transient. Doctors can feel the tug of fewer hours and more money that other communities may offer.
Lambert cited that Kansas ranks 39th out 50 states in the number of active physicians for every 100,000 people.
Quality and easy access to health care are selling points for Emporia. I can’t count the number of times I have heard people talk about how they needed to see a doctor and were able to get in on short notice. This access to health care does not happen in larger communities.
Emporia’s doctors deserve a pat on the back. They work hard, and their phones ring around the clock when they are on call.
Physicians are also important because they fill leadership roles in the community. As older doctors retire or move away, it is good to see younger doctors moving to town. We hope they enjoy our simple pleasures and hometown hospitality that make Emporia a nice place to live, work and play.
Our community needs to support and help the hospital’s efforts to bring in new physicians. In Lambert’s column, he encouraged the Kansas Legislature to do more.
We agree and hope the Legislature will do more to create a favorable business climate to keep doctors working in our state.
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Posted by my2cents (anonymous) on March 26, 2008 at 7:38 p.m. (Suggest removal)
It would be nice to have more than just a few that are worth their salt though...just like any other profession, there are two kinds of people. Those that are in it because they want to help others and are good at it. Then there are those that are in it to do as little as possible to scrape by just to get the paycheck. (The main thing that draws doctors to the position to begin with.)
Posted by anonomom (anonymous) on March 27, 2008 at 8:19 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I just want to comment that I have been so happy with the medical care in this community, and I am sad to be leaving it. Our family has appreciated Dr Kemp and his staff, Dr Milburn and his staff, Dr Detwiler and his staff, and especially Gina in the parenting center at Newman. I am sure there are many other wonderful medical staff we havent' come in contact with, but I have been so happy with the ones who cared for us all these years.
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