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Monroe Losing Primary Care Doctors
08/17/08 - 08:32 PM
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MONROE, La. (AP) - Some doctors are concerned a slow exodus of private primary care physicians in the Monroe area could lead to a health care crisis.

In the past four years, more than a dozen physicians have left their private practices. Some of them have taken jobs in hospitals and others left the area.

That has left patients with fewer choices.

Dr. Nashat Khanfar, a pediatrician who has practiced in Monroe for nine years calls, the loss a crisis in the making.

Primary care physicians make up general family practices, pediatrics, obstetrics and internal medicine. With fewer options, people turn to emergency rooms.

“The emergency room has now become a place for primary care,” said Khanfar. “The result is limited access to health care.”

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has designated Ouachita Parish a health professional shortage area. Among other criteria, the designation takes into account birth rate, poverty and number of qualified physicians.

Aimee Kane, director of corporate communications and physician relations at St. Francis Medical Center, called Monroe’s medical community competitive with cities of similar and even larger sizes. The difficulty, Kane said, comes with serving the surrounding area.

“We serve a large rural area,” Kane said. “Our region is over 570,000 in population.”

Dr. Kerry Anders, both a chief of staff at a hospital and a private physician, said he’s concerned about the future.

“I’m concerned about the next generation,” Anders said. “The community will need replacements, and that concerns me.”

Economic woes also contribute to the problem because people lose insurance and must depend on Medicaid. That results in diminishing returns for private physicians, said Bubba Rhymes, director of physician practice management at St. Francis.

“You have overhead costs for private practices increasing,” Rhymes said. “You have inflation. But reimbursements from Medicare and Medicaid aren’t keeping pace. Oftentimes, they’re paying less and less.”

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