NORFOLK, Va. — If you need a new primary care doctor, you might be having a tough time finding one in Hampton Roads and in most places across the country.
Virginia needs roughly 30 percent more primary care physicians, according to the Association of Medical Colleges. Meanwhile FAIR Health and the North Carolina State Office of Rural Health report a third of North Carolina residents don't have a primary care doctor at all and the issue is worse in rural areas.
Leslie Small lives in rural North Carolina and it's a lengthy drive across state lines for her to get to a doctor. She spoke to News 3 last year about the challenges of living in a 'medical desert.'
"I call the doctor. I hope I can get in, take off work, make up my hours later at night, and then come back and keep going," Leslie Small of Gates County, North Carolina told News 3 in 2022.
News 3 caught up with her Saturday to discuss another barrier to medical care: finding a primary care physician.
"When my boyfriend first moved here and was trying to get in, it took him three months to get into the doctor," said Small. "He was fine in that case and everything worked itself out, but some people have cancer and these kinds of things that need screening."
She's seen what happens when someone can't easily get into a doctor.
"A lot of people won't take care of themselves in the process," said Small. "It's concerning."
"[Primary care is] the first point of contact for most patients," said Dr. Steven D. Pearman, vice president and chief medical officer for primary care, Sentara Medical Group.
Dr. Steven Pearman explained that primary care is critical. He said it's especially important for preventative medicine and overall medical costs. He's concerned for the shortage of doctors, both in family and internal medicine, but not surprised.
"This has kind of been building up for years," said Dr. Pearman.
He said aging, sick, and more obese populations drive up demand and physician burnout, physicians retiring, and pay disparities drive down supply.
"That leads to longer wait times to get in or even find a provider that's taking new patients," said Dr. Pearman.
To ease the burden he said those at Sentara are looking to redesign the care model and strategically use technology.
"Maybe a simple problem can be handled by an email visit or a virtual visit from a centralized team, versus everything trying to go through the doctor," said Dr. Pearman.
But some will still have to make the drive, or wait for a time, to see a doctor.
"Things are getting a little better, where people are able to get high speed internet access, but we [in rural North Carolina] are still not where the rest of the people are. There's no fiber optic cable out here," said Small.
In the meantime, doctors ask patients to be as patient as possible.
"If it's urgent, lets get you in urgently. But if it's something that can wait, maybe that wait seems long to you, but if you can trust [medical professionals] to tell you that it's okay to wait six weeks to get in, understand that and work with your providers and realize that as much as we want convenience and immediate access that's a harder thing to achieve at this point. It will be our goal within Sentara to provide [more options] in the near future," said Dr. Pearman.
If the primary care physician shortage continues to get worse doctors expect more patients to turn to urgent care and emergency care which can strain those systems.
