When I got to work this morning, a rally was going on in Lawyer’s Mall concerning the state of health care in Maryland and why physicians are leaving Maryland. This is a complex issue but the rural areas are being greatly affected.
Last fall I attended a conference in Annapolis held by Rural Maryland and was astounded to find that Southern Maryland was the most severely under represented of the five areas of Maryland. In Southern Maryland there is a 83 percent shortage overall in the 30 physician categories that were surveyed. Hospitals throughout Maryland have difficulty recruiting medical specialists to support their emergency departments. Yet more and more patients are turning to crowded ERs for even minor ailments.
What is the health care situation like in your community?