More Doctors Settle In Rural Areas Only 28 Small Towns In Idaho Now Looking For Medical Help

For years, many rural Idaho residents have faced long drives to the nearest city if they wanted to see a doctor.

But a new survey shows a change in where doctors are settling. The survey shows that statewide, only 28 small towns are hunting for family doctors, internal medicine specialists or other primary-care practitioners.

Two years ago, 73 towns were seeking medical help.

Twenty-eight may be about as good as it gets, said Jim Przybilla, project director for Mountain States Group, a non-profit health care organization that conducted the survey. “We’ll never get to zero,” he said. “It’s a little bit like trying to swat flies.”

That is because health care workers retire or move on, he said.

But Jack Thompson, 46, says he doesn’t plan to move any time soon.

The physician assistant set up a practice in the tiny southeastern Idaho town of Terreton a year ago.

The Jeff Clark Family Health Center, where Thompson works, is a typical family practice.

“That means (we see) a little bit of everything, from colds and sore throats to heart attacks,” he said.

More and more doctors, physician assistants and nurse practitioners are settling in rural Idaho.

Mountain States Group has a $900,000 three-year grant to help recruit doctors. One of the group’s projects is helping communities band together to attract health care providers.