The Oct. 22 article “Having a harder time accessing health care” was timely and covered many of the issues from a patient perspective. It did not address why doctors are leaving Maine. While the reasons are varied and multifactorial, as a primary care physician who left Maine and regularly declines offers for positions in Maine, I can give some insight into why I left and will never practice in Maine again.

It certainly was not because of the employer, as Maine General is a great, committed group of health care workers. It certainly was not the clinic, as the staff at Gardiner Family Medicine is excellent.

But when coming to work in Maine after 20 years of practice in the military, but not being from Maine, my partner and I met a small subset of people outside of work who wanted to treat us as being “from away.” Trying to remedy a wrong, we sought solution with the sclerotic and dysfunctional Maine Human Rights Commission for over two years. What a farce that was!

Trying to get health care in Maine may be difficult, trying to get justice is even harder. So this outsider and Family Medicine doctor decided to “go away”

Some Mainers need to reflect on how they treat outsiders because that is where future health care providers could possibly come.

 

Kenneth Wells, M.D.

Newport, Rhode Island

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