(Radio Iowa) - The president of the American Medical Association is in Iowa today (Friday) to address the state's top doctors about key healthcare issues, including Iowa's worsening shortage of rural physicians.
Dr. Bruce Scott says one of his priorities is to seek out ways to turn around the exodus of experienced doctors from our nation's rural areas. Scott says 97 of Iowa's 99 counties are partially or entirely designated as Health Professional Shortage Areas, while Iowa ranks 45th in the nation in terms of availability of physicians and the patient-physician relationship.
Scott is speaking before members of the Iowa Medical Society in Des Moines, and says rural Iowa physicians are retiring in droves and they're not being replaced by new doctors due to the lower wages, increased administrative burdens, and the rising cost of practice in rural areas.