Questions raised about visa program for primary care physicians

In a parallel to last week's report about the shortage of physicians in the Greater Cincinnati area (and, by extension, in most of Ohio), The Plain Dealer has examined a program allowing foreign-born medical grads to be primary care doctors in this state. (Source: "Visa program not helping ease Ohio's primary care doctors shortage," Feb. 17, 2008.) Under the J-1 visa waiver program, foreign physicians are granted visas to come to the United States and practice in inner-city and rural areas that need them. However, the article details how "big hospitals like the Cleveland Clinic" are also using the program to keep specialists on their staffs.

Eileen Sheil, spokeswoman for the Cleveland Clinic, says the program is vital because her hospital can't find enough American doctors who are specialists, and that these specialists do indeed serve the underserved. However, Joe Liszak, chief executive of Fremont-based Community Health Services, a federally qualified health center in Sandusky County, wonders why multimillion-dollar hospital organizations are using this visa program when organizations like his own have such a hard time finding doctors.