By David J. Kanters
EDITOR’S NOTE — David J. Kanters, ARNP, FNP, the author of this guest column, is the owner of CliniCare of Port Angeles Inc., 621 E. Front St. He can be reached via email at clinicare@olympus.net. This guest column appeared in the Nov. 4, 2014, Peninsula Daily News.
I READ THE Oct. 26 article by the PDN’s Diane Urbani de la Paz — “Deficit of Doctors” — with interest.
I was not surprised and a little disappointed in that she did not mention CliniCare at any time.
We have been offering primary and acute care to the residents of Clallam County since 1989.
The present provider shortage has been coming for some time, which is why I was surprised when we, CliniCare, recruited two physicians in 2010 only to have the local medical politics prevent either one from working here.
That is history, only to point out that some of the existing shortage has been brought on by local politics.
Not that long ago the VA system came under fire and made sensational international news for the delays facing our veterans’ entry into the health care system. Heads rolled, people were fired and policies changed.
In this county, anybody not established with a primary care provider for the most part are simply told, “Sorry, we are not accepting new patients.”
The various offices do not see the aftermath.
In the VA system, some vets reportedly died as a result of the 90-day wait. Does anyone think it is different in Clallam County?
CliniCare has seen a number of people for which we diagnosed some form of cancer after they had undergone eight months of futilely trying to be seen where their insurance would help.
The only difference between the shortage in Clallam County and the VA is that there is no real list, and it is considerably longer than three months.
Patients are simply told to try elsewhere, but there is no “elsewhere” and — unlike the VA — there are no heads to fire or blame.
Everybody is blameless!
The solution? Frankly, I don’t have all the answers.
The VA initially said the same thing that the PDN article brought out: It is hard to recruit providers and that takes time.
The public apparently didn’t buy all of that, and the VA had to “man up,” work longer hours and make other sacrifices to improve access.
The result was that access was improved and wait times decreased.
It may be a Band-Aid fix until it can entice more providers and have a long-term solution, but it is doing something now.
Who is going to tell this medical community to step up to the plate?
If the public won’t, I will.
I think the various offices can do a lot more.
Extended hours, Saturdays less than an hour for lunch and being more flexible might be a start.
Since 1989, CliniCare has had an open-door policy — and I have never felt overworked.
In the past, if there is a need, we worked. Our hours expanded until we worked 12 hours a day 6 to 7 days a week.
The patients drive our practice and set the pace.
We have no need for barriers.
The VA system has a central command structure, someone to blame and initiate change.
Here, there is no central structure.
In my opinion, at least part of the solution here would take something I have never seen in this medical community: cooperation.
If there are any talks aimed at improving patient access, they have not included CliniCare.
We have been quietly picking the pieces since our inception, but one person or one practice cannot do this alone.
It is, as pointed out in the article, a complex problem comprised of economics, insurances, Medicare laws and regulations as well as national and local politics — not a lot of which I even pretend to understand.
All I know with certainty is the medical community can do more than point fingers at the various aspects and then step back and do nothing.
CliniCare is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. five days a week and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday. If we had the support, resources and infrastructure, we could do more.
Maybe it is time to do as the VA did, and “man up” until more permanent solutions can be found.
In the meantime, we will be there. Our motto of “Sick Today, Seen Today” stands.
I hope this topic is not over, since it needs to be addressed.
We have a man down — John Q. Public — right here in our yard.
Who is going to help him?
Anybody?
