Florida’s doctor shortage is expected to grow in the next decade, with one study projecting a statewide need of 18,000 physicians by 2035.
HAVANA, Fla. — For a rural community, this town of 1750 people has been more fortunate than most. A family doctor has practiced here for the last 30 years.
“This is important for our community,” said Kendrah Wilkerson, Havana’s town manager, “in the same way that parks are important and good future planning is important.”of nearly every county, but less populous counties, such as Gadsden, where Havana is located, have the fewest physicians per 10,000 residents.projecting a statewide need of 18,000 physicians — including 6000 primary care doctors — by 2035.
“Everything you would imagine a Hallmark movie to be is kind of where we live,” Wilkerson said. “It’s people who still care and look out for each other, and neighbors are actually friends.” Without a town doctor, some of Newberry’s former patients now have to travel to Tallahassee, about a 30-minute drive southeast of Havana. Others are seeing doctors in Quincy, about a 20-minute drive west.Susan Freiden, a former town manager who retired in 2006, said having a local doctor is also important to meet the needs of the town’s low-income residents, many of whom are older adults. “Not everybody can get to Tallahassee to get a doctor,” she said. “Not everybody has transportation.
The challenge for a community of Havana’s size, Smeltzer said, is that “there may literally be nobody from that town that went to med school. Or, if there is, maybe it’s one. But were they a primary care physician?”
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