NORFOLK, Va. — If you're having trouble finding a doctor, you're not alone. There's a shortage of primary care doctors in Hampton Roads and across the country and the problem is growing.
Wednesday News 3 asked people in Hampton Roads how long it's taken them to find a primary care doctor and what the wait times for appointments are like.
"On average it's about three months to see my primary care manager," John Woodard of Chesapeake said. "At times it can be upwards of six months, depending on the time of the year, number of people in the area, the condition, the symptoms, etc..."
The wait can be worse if you're switching primary care doctors or dealing with insurance.
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"It took me a long time to get one. Like three years," said Shay Taylor of Norfolk.
News 3's reporter Erika Craven tried to make an appointment this week. Many doctor's offices weren't accepting new patients. One doctor's office that had openings said she'd have to wait until Feb. 2025.
Long wait times can be frustrating.
"Especially if you feel it's an immediate need issue. Three, four months down the line? You're not going to be sick three, four months down the line. You're sick today not tomorrow," explained Woodard.
"Healthcare is in a little bit of a crisis," said Dr. Steven Pearman, vice president and chief medical officer for primary care for Sentara.
The profession was hit during the pandemic.
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"It was really hard for providers, physicians to get through COVID. There was this initial glow of like we're all heroes and then not too long afterwards there was the anger from patients," explained Dr. Pearman.
But the shortage doesn't just stem from COVID burnout. Dr. Pearman said aging populations with complex health needs put more demand on the system and retiring physicians and pay disparities mean there's a shortage of providers.
"Primary care in general is the lowest or one of the lowest paid specialties. The education costs are the same. The average debt coming out of medical school is about $250,000 so when people are making decisions on what they go into they choose one that's making more and that's pretty obvious. There is also a lack of graduate medical education resources for primary care, we're trying to improve that as well, but there's a disparity there," said Dr. Pearman.
The impact is felt in emergency departments and urgent care.
"How busy are these departments taking on some of the residual patients?" asked News 3 reporter Erika Craven.
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"It depends on the area but they are busy and many people use ER inappropriately, I would say. For things like a sore throat or urinary tract infection, it's probably ten times the cost it would be than if it were done in a primary care setting. So that's another concern; that we're increasing the cost of healthcare by using the ED as a primary care service," said Dr. Pearman.
Primary care, Dr. Pearman said, is the gateway to specialized care and is important to the health of the general population.
"The cost of care goes down the more primary care physicians you have, but also well-being goes up and death and mortality goes down. It's just because we're working on preventing things," said Dr. Pearman.
But the needed care is getting more difficult to come by, both in Hampton Roads and across the country.
Within a decade, reports suggest the U.S. will be short at least 50,000 physicians. Moreover, last month's report from the Association of American Medical Colleges project the U.S. to face a physician shortage of up to 86,000 physicians by 2036.
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"If you think about 1,500 patients for every provider, that's [hundreds of millions of] people with limited access to primary care. That's scary," said Dr. Pearman. "But you can't do it the way we've been doing it. We have to do something differently."
News 3 first spoke to Dr. Pearman about the physician shortage last year. Since then, he said Sentara's been seeing some progress in addressing the problem. But, he added, nothing will change overnight.
He said Sentara's been working on a team care model to better allocate resources and working to keep new medical professionals in the area.
"Most of Virginia is paid lower than other parts . . . so if you're thinking about trying to hire and retain physicians and they're getting a lot less money for the work they do, it's harder to keep them. But we are working closely with EVMS, the nurse practitioner schools and we're looking at opening up some new residency programs around the area to really integrate our efforts," said Dr. Pearman.
In April Sentara rolled out an AI documentation tool that helps transcribe notes. Since then, Dr. Pearman said providers have seen a difference in workday efficiency.
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"By the time I leave my visit, I have my note done. That's huge. Takes a lot of time. You think of five minutes every 15 to 20, 30 minutes to document what you've just done, all these add up to another hour or two in your day. It gives us more time and capacity to see patients," said Dr. Pearman. He expects the tool to improve the work-life balance for medical teams.
Most places in Hampton Roads also offer telehealth.
"Telehealth is actually a lot faster than seeing someone face to face. So, I think they're bridging that gap between the waiting times. As a positive it works out really well for me because I get to do it on my time," said Woodard.
Since the shortage is expected to continue, Dr. Pearman added the best thing you can do is be patient.
"It's not because providers are not willing, it's because they are doing the best they can in a situation that's really [challenging] right now," said Dr. Pearman.
