Doctor Wanted: Small town in Florida offers big perks to attract a physician | Global News Avenue

Havana, Florida. – For a rural community, this town of 1,750 is luckier than most. For the past 30 years, a family doctor has practiced here.

But this ended in December of Mark Newberry’s retirement. To attract new doctors, Havana leaders brought out the ads they wanted in local newspapers. Posted notice on social mediaand add sugar to the pot with a rent-free medical office equipped with X-rays, ultrasonic machines and bone density scanners, all owned by the town.

Local leaders hope recruitment campaigns can attract candidates nationwide Lack of doctors.

“It’s important to our community, just as the park is important, and good plans for the future are important,” said Havana City Manager Kendrah Wilkerson.

According to a Florida Department of Health report, doctor shortage Affect all or part of it In almost every county, but with a smaller population, such as Gadsden, where Havana is located, there are the fewest doctors per 10,000 residents.

Florida’s Shortage of doctors Expected to grow in the next decade A study It is estimated that by 2035, 18,000 doctors (including 6,000 primary care physicians) will be needed across the state.

“It’s a huge problem,” said Matthew Smeltzer, managing partner at Capstone Recruiting Advisors. “It could hit the hardest town just because most people like to live in medium or large communities. ”

In this challenging environment, Havana leaders hope to want advertising and rent-free allowances to make their town stand out and convince doctors to practice here.

Wilkerson describes the community south of the Georgia border as an ideal place to raise families. Its country roads have farms, pastures and churches. The main streets of the city include antique shops, gift shops, grocery stores and restaurants.

“All the iconic movies you imagine are where we live,” Wilkerson said. “It’s people who still care about each other and neighbors are actually friends.”

Providing generous incentives is how the town mayor practices Newberry in Havana in 1993. The town gave Newberry an initial deal with the now-provided Newberry, which it later began providing him with about $15,000 in financial support per year.

Newberry, who serves about 2,000 patients, declined to be interviewed. “I’m just retired!” he said in an email, adding that “the town chose an unconventional way” to recruit doctors.

By subsidizing office space and attracting doctors with medical equipment, Havana is looking for the needs of its residents, Wilkerson said.

Without town doctors, some former patients in Newbury now have to travel to Tallahassee, about 30 minutes southeast of Havana. Others saw the doctor in Quincy, about 20 minutes’ drive.

“Our hope is that when we find a new doctor, they will come back,” said Havana Mayor Eddie Bass.

Susan Freiden, a former town manager who retired in 2006, said having a local doctor is also important to meet the needs of low-income residents in the town, many of whom are older. “Not everyone can go to Tallahassee to see a doctor,” she said. “Not everyone has transportation.”

However, whether it is enough to attract doctors to Havana remains to be seen. The town’s recruitment campaign has attracted the interest of nurse practitioners, but few primary care physicians apply for the position.

Town leaders say they hope to find a family doctor who can practice and prescribe medication independently.

“You really would prefer to have a real doctor who can handle all of this for us,” Bass said.

Physician hunter Smeltzer said the supply of primary care doctors is particularly low. He said that despite his experience, Florida, North Carolina, Tennessee and Texas are places where doctors want to live and work, they usually need to be convinced to work in a small town.

“If someone wants to practice in a small town, they are more likely to go to the connections they have, whether it’s themselves or their spouse or important others,” he said.

The challenge for Havana-scale communities, Smeltzer said, is: “Literally, no one in that town went to medical school. Or, if anything, maybe one. But are they primary care physicians,” he said. ? ”

Despite this, there is still a glimmer of hope. Smeltzer said young doctors enjoy high value in a balanced and meaningful relationship with their patients’ work-life — which could give the town’s independent practice an advantage.

“In the last three to five years, we’ve heard a lot more quality of life and work-life balance,” he said, “and that’s almost locked in, as far as things they focus on.”

Former Havana Town Manager Freiden said the values ​​were the same as those Newberry began practicing here. She even became one of his patients.

“He’s just perfect because if you can imagine it, he’s not all about money. He’s another kind of doctor.”

Fortunately for Havana, the town recently received interest from a family medicine doctor who grew up here and attended medical school and is expected to commemorate health care in Tallahassee in June Memorial Healthcare) Completed three years of residence.

Camron BrowningA graduate of North Havana High School in 2003, told the seven-member town council in a December interview that he focused on family medicine and that he had seen thousands of people during his residence. The patient, gave birth to the baby and gained experience in hospitalists.

“My goal is to be able to go home and serve my hometown,” he said.

Smeltzer said the incentives in Havana may be attractive to new doctors, such as Browning, who will face tough startup costs to build independent practices.

After the December interview, the board voted unanimously to negotiate contracts with Browning, who said he planned to prepare to meet patients as soon as possible after completing his residency.

“I’m here to stay,” Browning told the council. “This is always my dream.”

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