I have finally reached the point of serious concern about the health care system in the state of Maine. Before I describe our dilemma, let me say at the outset that the quality of care here is excellent. Our providers, at all levels, are first rate. They provide services that we all can be proud of. I say this as a senior citizen, now retired from faculty and administrative positions in higher education and having briefly served as the president of the Maine College of Health Professions in Lewiston.
So, please allow me to say that our system of health care is broken; it is broken because it is virtually impossible to gain access to it. How many hours have I spent on the phone listening to computer answering systems, choosing from a vast array of options and then forced to listen to the same music over and over and over again?
I recently called a health care unit and was told that the first available appointment was three months away. Quality health care? I don’t think so.
First, we do not have enough programs or organizations to adequately address both a growing and aging population.
Second, we have extreme staffing shortage problems forcing health organizations to use things like “visiting nurses.”
Third, health care organizations try to operate using the wrong business model approach whereby they are only open certain hours or at certain locations, and because of personnel shortages they are often only able to offer services to people in need many weeks and months in the future. Apparently the system is not designed to provide services to all of us in a timely manner.
Finally, the apparent employee stress level in all types of health care roles is beyond reason.
These issues alone create significant problems for the delivery of health care to all. How do we solve this problem?
Work to increase the number of physicians, nurses, allied health professionals and support staff so that health services can operate many more hours per week. Health care organizations which exist to serve the public need must establish goals on a timely basis. And if licensed by the State of Maine to offer health services, they should be required to report to the people on their progress in meeting their stated goals.
The University of Maine System needs to start a Maine medical school. It is about time that we join much of the rest of the United States. This will help to guarantee future generations that there will be an adequate number of physicians to treat and care for future generations of Maine people. This school must likely take an operating principle that rural medicine is included in the curriculum and that the placement of physicians in clinical training include an emphasis on rural medicine. We must also seek to incentivize new physicians to practice in our rural areas.
We must consider funding the establishment of additional nursing degree programs at our current colleges and universities. We must increase the number of men and women who seek careers in nursing and to provide learning opportunities that help address our needs in the state of Maine.
Our recruitment strategy must focus on a great professional environment for which to practice as nurses. Further, we must consider the creating financial benefits by increasing salaries, providing moving expenses, having affordable dedicated housing, and perhaps even offering tax incentives to attract nurses from around the country to practice in a first rate medical environment and to live in our beautiful state.
Maine should provide scholarships and other incentives for individuals interested in studying to become one of the very many other professional health care roles so vital to the operation of our health organizations. We should also consider developing programs of study and training leading to the very many health care roles needed to provide a level of service to all of our citizens.
Create a special committee, sanctioned by the legislature, to review statewide efforts to confront health care access in all areas of our wonderful state. Work of this committee would be funded and would be required to report to the public on efforts to address access.
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