Doctor Supply Is Off The Critical List Officials Say There Is No Longer A Pressing Shortage Of Doctors In Idaho

After years of shortages, some industry officials say Idaho’s supply of physicians has just about caught up with demand.

“We don’t need an extensive recruiting program. Physicians are coming on their own,” said Bob Seehusen, executive director of the Idaho Medical Association.

For years, he said the state added 25 to 30 doctors per year.

“Over the last three years, we’ve been averaging 150 physicians coming into the state, and this year, it’s likely to be the same,” he said.

Idaho has one of the lowest ratios in the nation of doctors to residents. Nationwide, there are an average of 240 doctors per 100,000 people. In Idaho, it’s only 160 to 100,000.

Still, Seehusen said, the state’s death and injury rates are well below national averages, suggesting that Idahoans’ health isn’t suffering. The average length of hospital stay in Idaho is among the lowest in the country, he said.

Also, national statistics show that having more doctors translates into higher medical costs. Idaho has the lowest family health care costs in the nation, Seehusen said, and ranks 49th in the country in average charges per hospital admission.

“With oversupply (of doctors) comes higher utilization,” said Seehusen. “We think we probably have the right number of physicians in this state.”

At the Idaho Hospital Association, president Steve Millard said hospitals used to call, desperate for any doctor they could get.

“We rarely get a call like that anymore,” he said. “Within the last two years, there’s been a turnaround.”

“I find myself more in the position of trying to discourage physicians from coming to Coeur d’Alene,” said Joe Morris, chief executive officer at Kootenai Medical Center. “The only communities I hear of that are doing much recruiting are the very small communities that are more isolated.”

Three years ago in St. Maries, Benewah Community Hospital had only three doctors. Now - due partly to the hospital’s agreement to manage the adjacent health clinic - the hospital has three part-time and seven full-time doctors. Mike Boyd, chief executive officer, says the hospital will soon add yet another full-time doctor.

“We’ve had tons of people since then (the clinic purchase) that have asked if we had places for them,” Boyd said. “And we basically had to say no.”

He said there’s still room in Idaho for so-called primary care physicians - generalists who provide most care. But he said most hospitals aren’t nearly as desperate to find doctors as they used to be.

“I think the majority of the hospitals in the state can use another family practitioner,” he said. “But to say ‘Just send along anyone,’ those days are over.”

The main reason for the change in recruiting climate, officials said, is that physicians are fleeing insurance-driven “managed care” common to more urban areas.

“You’ve got administrators telling them how much they can practice, what they can prescribe, what they can and can’t do,” Seehusen said.

Idaho’s rural lifestyle is also a big draw, Seehusen said.

“Every time there’s a riot, flood, or earthquake in California, we get massive numbers of calls from people wanting to know what the opportunities are in Idaho,” he said.

In St. Maries, three of the hospital’s four recent recruits are from urban areas. Drs. Mike and Leslie Stone, both family practitioners, came from Southern California two years ago. Surgeon John Stackow came from Manhattan. His wife is a surgical physician’s assistant.

“He basically was just looking for the West,” said Boyd. “He raises pygmy goats and chickens, and gets a kick out of it.”

Despite the improving recruitment picture, Boyd thinks Idaho will always have some small towns that have difficulty recruiting doctors.

“Even a surplus of physicians is not going to make someone go be the only doctor in town,” he said.

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This sidebar appeared with the story: COST CONSCIOUS Idaho has the lowest family health care costs in the nation and ranks 49th in the country in average charges per hospital admission.