Meeting the Physician Recruitment Challenge

Weatherford, OK, June 19, 2008 – Weatherford has felt the effects of the physician shortage along with the rest of the nation, but Weatherford Regional Hospital is meeting this challenge with a head-on strategy, even though the process of physician recruiting is an exhausting, complicated and time-consuming effort. With physicians becoming more in demand comes the challenge to hospitals to bring doctors to their communities, especially rural areas.

Doctors who are beginning residency programs are so highly sought after and aggressively recruited that it makes it very difficult for rural hospitals to compete. Doctors can essentially go anywhere they want after finishing residency. They have leverage to make certain demands and expect guarantees to relocate. Many large markets don’t require doctors to take call or even run their own practice, they only have to work shift work. Weatherford Regional Hospital CEO Debbie Howe commented, “We have a competitive recruitment package that will match up or beat other rural Oklahoma Hospitals.” “There are laws and regulations that must be followed when recruiting physician’s, it is a complicated and tough game.” The Hospital does have some competitive advantages that set them apart: a new facility for physicians to utilize, a very attractive community with great things to offer including a great public education system; new housing developments, job opportunities for the spouse and culture though the university.

To meet the challenge head-on WRH has established a Physician Recruitment Committee that meets several times a month. This committee’s goals and objectives are to identify and screen potential physician candidates. Howe stated, “We take the time to call on the candidates that meet our criteria. There is a lot of personal contact time, we involved medical staff members for evening dinners, to relate their stories and express our need for more physicians.” The committee also focuses on short-term and long-term planning. In addition, WRH is sending out numerous packets to medical students, resident students and practicing physicians. WRH also offers assistance to incoming physicians with salary guarantees and setting up a practice.

Weatherford Regional has also hired a consulting firm that has had proven results in other Oklahoma hospitals. Ms. Howe stated that one of the biggest advantages the Hospital has is that we are very fortunate that Dr. John Huser, Jr. is acquainted with the Directors of the M.D. and D.O. programs. He has also served on the Physician Manpower Group, which is a program with matching funds or scholarships for doctors who agree to serve in rural areas.

So why has physician recruitment become such a challenge for Weatherford and the rest of the hospitals in the United States? Put simply, the supply is not meeting the demand. The population in the U.S. is growing and the amount of practicing physicians coming out of medical school is not. The baby boomers also pose an issue to the question of physician demand. The aging population has had a huge economic impact on healthcare. This generation can more readily afford and are willing to pay for services that physicians offer. This group is also more consciousness of their health and well being than those in the past few decades. The demand for doctors to serve this population is expected to grow especially over the next ten years.

So what about the supply of physicians in the work force? Physicians are included in the same group that is aging and in turn leaving the work force. Many doctors are retiring or at least attempting to partially retire. In the future one might see physicians leaving the workforce even earlier than in years past. Medical liability increasing cost and more law suits filed is also a deterrent. Another downfall in physician supply is there are fewer new entrants into medical schools every year. Young people are finding that being a doctor is not the highest paid position anymore, at least in comparison between income and hours worked per week. More and more talented young people are being drawn to other technology fields where they can make just as much money and work fewer hours. Edward Salsberg, Director for the Center of Workforce Studies, believes that the nation will face a shortage of 85,000 physicians by the year 2020. Following this trend, more and more medical students are electing to move into fields that carry a controllable lifestyle.

There has been a huge shift in focus in the younger generation of doctors to a focus on time at home versus prestige, service, and amount of yearly income. Time spent at home with family has begun to take priority over amount of income. Most of this generation would rather be their son or daughter’s little league coach than take on additional patients requiring long overtime hours. Many medical students are more attracted to setting their own hours with minimal emergent situations such as dermatology or ophthalmology. This is why rural hospitals are often at a disadvantage to metro healthcare because they do need their doctors to take call and serve patients in the community in larger numbers.

Weatherford Regional Hospital is making strides in bringing quality doctors to serve the area alongside the great physicians that already reside locally. The focus is not just on the short term though. One cannot expect these physicians to stay in practice late into life like was once seen before. Physicians will be leaving the workforce along side their colleagues who work in other industries. The Physician Recruiting Committee is focusing on the best interests of the community and bringing the best physicians to our patients. The Committee is confident their persistence and innovative strategy will yield results that will benefit the entire area that Weatherford Regional Hospital serves.