Report: Rural, poor areas hit hard by national primary care doc shortage

An online report by the National Association of Community Health Centers concluded that 56 million Americans do not have a regular source of health care because of the shortage of primary care physicians in their area (Source: “Family doctors called scarce,” Baltimore Sun, Aug. 12, 2008).

Although the majority of those do not have insurance, even those that do will struggle to find care in poor urban and  rural areas, the report found. To completely address the issue, the study estimates that 60,000 more primary care physicians and as many as 44,500 additional nurses are needed.

"This is the unfortunate reality of our health care system. It's an example of how the market triumphs over public policy," said Dan Hawkins, the association's senior vice president of programs and policy and one of the authors of the report. "Even if universal health care comes into play tomorrow, not everyone would have access to a health care provider."