Did You Know?

Did you know the cost of medical care isn’t the only factor keeping people away from the doctor? Many of you have experienced the same issue – waiting for months to get in to see a specialist doctor. Perhaps your primary care doctor retired, and it took “forever” to find a new one who suited your needs, or you gave up looking.

It's no wonder our emergency rooms are jammed up with people who put off taking care of a physical issue until it became an emergency. Urgent care centers and area clinics have sprouted up in neighborhoods to deliver some of the medical care needed, but they can’t completely fill the gap. In addition to needing adequate funding and staff, they must refer people with special needs to the same specialist doctors we’re all waiting to see.

If you’ve been to a specialist, you will notice most of them rely on nurse practitioners for much of the caregiving. This is a helpful trend, because it does increase the capacity to care for more patients. Obviously, this trend is still not enough to meet the need for medical services.

One step in the right direction is the Pima Community College four-year nursing degree program. This offers a more flexible and less expensive opportunity for those who wish to become nurses and for the community that needs them. Other countries, such as Israel, offer incentives for doctors and other caregivers. Maybe it’s time for Arizona to do the same.

Marian Hill