The Southwest Virginia Graduate Medical Education Consortium hosted the half-day workshop held June 11 at University of Virginia's College at Wise. Other sponsors included Bon Secours St. Mary's Hospital, Norton Community Hospital, Russell County Medical Center, Virginia Health Policy Center and the Southwest Virginia Area Health Education Center.
About 25 people attended the event, with representatives from UVa-Wise, St. Mary's Hospital, Norton Community Hospital, Clinch River Health Services, Wellmont Lonesome Pine Hospital, Pulaski Community Hospital, the Lenowisco Health District, Wythe County Community Hospital and Lee Regional Medical Center.
RECRUITMENT
How is your region different? Guye asked. What makes your region unique and better than others? she asked. List your assets, she said, and figure out how to capitalize on them.
A medical facility that's looking for a new doctor should determine how much money it can spend on recruitment and to pay the physician if he or she is hired, Guye said. Other factors include community needs and the amount of time available to recruit a new physician.
Developing a plan on doctor recruitment and retention is key, Guye says. A systematic approach is needed. And manpower needs should be studied. Medical facilities sometimes hire too many doctors, she says, and don't have enough patients to justify the new positions. What kind of demand exists for health care providers? she asked.
Local recruiters should also consider family-related needs when talking to doctors interested in locating here, Guye said. Is the physician married? Does the couple have children? Will the couple want the children to attend private school? Or is the physician single, she asked, and will he or she be happy in a rural area?
The medical facility and/or community should promote the region's assets, Guye said, such as natural beauty and whether the facility offers state-of-the-art equipment and a great work environment.
"Physicians go where they're invited, stay where they're well-treated and grow where they're cultivated," Guye said.
The average cost to recruit one doctor is $24,500, Guye said. That figure assumes the medical facility used an "in-house" recruiter and didn't rely on help from an outside firm.
STATE RESOURCES
The Virginia Department of Health's Office of Health Policy and Planning works to link medically underserved communities with health professionals, says Karen Reed, the office's program manager for recruitment and retention.
Those efforts led to the placement of 16 physicians and other providers into rural underserved areas from May 2003 to April 2004. Positions were filled in several localities such as Wise, Lee, Buchanan and Russell counties.
Reed discussed a variety of resources offered or facilitated by her office, including scholarship programs, loan repayment programs, designations of underserved areas and an online recruitment Internet site, www.ppova.org.
Recipients of loan repayment or scholarship assistance must fulfill their obligation by providing health services in medically underserved areas, Reed said.
Reed's office administers the federal program for designating areas of Virginia as health professional shortage areas, medically underserved areas and medically underserved populations. The office also handles designations on the state level.
The entire coalfield region is designated as a Virginia Medically Underserved Area.
The recruitment Web site features current job opportunities, forms, current designations, maps, recruitment contacts, an events calendar and more. About 120 positions are currently posted on the site, Reed said.
Coming next: Dr. Roger Hofford, director of the Carilion Roanoke-Salem Family Medicine Residency Program, gives the keys to successful recruitment from a doctor's perspective. And Kevin Horne, an area executive for Branch Banking and Trust Co., talks about loan, credit and other financing opportunities.
