19 new doctors finish residency to help fill need for quality medical care in rural Alabama
19 new doctors finish residency to help fill need for quality medical care in rural Alabama
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COMING UP. GUY. ALL RIGHT. JASON. WELL, RIGHT NOW THE NEED FOR DOCTORS IN RURAL AREAS OF THE STATE IS MORE DIRE THAN EVER. WVTM 13 AARON LLEWELLYN LIVE AND LOCAL IN BESSEMER TONIGHT. AARON A GROUP OF RESIDENCY PROGRAM GRADUATES ARE STEPPING UP TO MEET THOSE NEEDS. YEAH, GUYS. SHERI. SINCE 2009, THE STATE OF ALABAMA HAS LOST 21% OF ITS FAMILY MEDICINE TRAINING POSITIONS. NOW, WITH RURAL ALABAMA COMMUNITIES LOSING ACCESS TO QUALITY HEALTH CARE EVERY DAY, THE MEDICAL CENTER IS WORKING TO CHANGE THAT AND FILL THAT NEED WITH ITS LARGEST RESIDENCY PROGRAM, GRADUATION EVER. IT’S NO SECRET THERE’S A NEED FOR MORE COMPREHENSIVE HEALTH CARE IN RURAL COMMUNITIES ACROSS THE STATE OF ALABAMA. THIS IS RURAL AS IT GETS. DOCTOR SUMTER BLACKMAN WORKED AS THE TOWN OF CAMDEN’S ONLY DOCTOR FOR A LONG TIME. IN THE LAST FEW YEARS, THE TOWN HIRED A PART TIME DOCTOR, BUT THERE’S STILL SOME ISSUES TO NAVIGATE. IT’S JUST DIFFICULT TO FIND DOCTORS WILLING TO COME TO A SMALL AREA LIKE CAMDEN HAS ONE GROCERY STORE, THREE STOPLIGHTS. YOU KNOW, NOT MANY PEOPLE WANT TO GET THAT RURAL, BUT THAT DOESN’T BOTHER. RECENT MEDICAL FAMILY MEDICINE RESIDENCY GRADUATE DOCTOR HALEY WARWICK. SHE SAYS SERVING PATIENTS IN RURAL COMMUNITIES IS HER PASSION. THEY CAN WALK TO OUR CLINIC AND THEY CAN SEE US, AND WE ARE LIKE THE ONLY DOCTOR THEY’RE GOING TO SEE VERSUS OR IF THEY GO TO A RURAL EMERGENCY ROOM, BUT WE’RE THE ONLY ONES THAT’S DOING LIKE THE PRIMARY CARE, THE PREVENTATIVE CARE FOR THEM. ACCORDING TO CAHABA MEDICAL CARE IN UAB, THE STATE OF ALABAMA NEEDS TO FILL 612 NEW PRIMARY CARE POSITIONS BY 2030. AFTER THE PROGRAM’S GRADUATION ON THURSDAY NIGHT, 14 GRADUATES WILL HELP FILL SOME OF THAT NEED, INCLUDING WARWICK. SHE’LL WORK IN WOODSTOCK AS THE WEST BLOCTON CLINIC’S FIRST DOCTOR IN MORE THAN A DECADE. WE ARE LIKE THOSE PATIENTS ONLY, LIKE MEDICAL PROVIDERS OUT THERE. IT’S HAD A BIG IMPACT IN MY LIFE, AND WATCHING PATIENTS STRUGGLE WITH ACCESS TO CARE MADE AN IMPACT ON HER. FROM AN EARLY AGE. WARWICK SAYS HER GRANDFATHER LIVED IN RURAL TENNESSEE WITH DIABETES, SEIZURES AND CANCER. THE LOCAL HOSPITAL WAS NOT COMFORTABLE WITH DEALING WITH SEIZURES, SO WE WOULD LIKE HAVE TO LIKE TRAVEL TO MEMPHIS LIKE VIA AMBULANCE IF HE WAS LIKE HAVING REALLY BAD SEIZURES AND NOT COMING OUT OF THEM. AFTER FINISHING HER RESIDENCY, SHE’S LOOKING FORWARD TO PROVIDING HER PATIENTS WITH THE CARE HER GRANDFATHER NEVER HAD. I FELT LIKE I, LIKE, FIGURED OUT MY PLACE IN THE WORLD, AND THAT’S JUST TO HELP. LIKE THE UNDERSERVED IN THE RURAL COMMUNITY. NOW, THIS YEAR, THE PROGRAM HAD 19 PEOPLE GRADUATE. NOW 14 OF THEM ARE STAYING RIGHT HERE IN ALABAMA TO HELP THOSE IN NEED GET QUALITY ACCESS TO CARE. LIVE IN BESS
The need for doctors in rural Alabama is more dire than ever before. Now, a group of recent residency program graduates is stepping up to meet those needs.According to Cahaba Medical Care and UAB, the state of Alabama needs to fill 612 new primary care positions by 2030. After the program’s graduation on Thursday night, 16 graduates will help fill some of that need, including Dr. Haley Warwick.She will work in Woodstock as the West Blocton clinic’s first doctor in more than a decade.“When I started residency, the full thing was to go back to North Carolina, where my husband’s from,” Warwick said. “He got down here, and he saw what my patients meant to me and what I meant to them and how much I love this community. He said, ‘No, I’m not taking away from them. You’re staying here. You’re going to keep helping them.'”Dr. Sumpter Blackmon knows how great the need is to keep new and talented doctors in the state. He worked as the town of Camden’s only doctor for a long time. In the last few years the town hired a part-time doctor, but there’s still some issues to navigate.“Montgomery is 70 miles away,” he said. “Selma is 45 miles away. When you have a heart attack or a bad injury, that distance to travel can be life or death.”The program had a total of 19 residents graduate — 14 of them are staying in Alabama to help those in need of quality medical care — 55 of the program’s 72 alumni now work in underserved areas. That’s three times the national average — 16 out of 38 alumni who have completed the rural track are practicing in rural areas. That’s eight times the national average.>> WVTM 13 ON-THE-GO: Download our app for free
BESSEMER, Ala. —
The need for doctors in rural Alabama is more dire than ever before. Now, a group of recent residency program graduates is stepping up to meet those needs.
According to Cahaba Medical Care and UAB, the state of Alabama needs to fill 612 new primary care positions by 2030. After the program’s graduation on Thursday night, 16 graduates will help fill some of that need, including Dr. Haley Warwick.
She will work in Woodstock as the West Blocton clinic’s first doctor in more than a decade.
“When I started residency, the full thing was to go back to North Carolina, where my husband’s from,” Warwick said. “He got down here, and he saw what my patients meant to me and what I meant to them and how much I love this community. He said, ‘No, I’m not taking away from them. You’re staying here. You’re going to keep helping them.'”
Dr. Sumpter Blackmon knows how great the need is to keep new and talented doctors in the state. He worked as the town of Camden’s only doctor for a long time. In the last few years the town hired a part-time doctor, but there’s still some issues to navigate.
“Montgomery is 70 miles away,” he said. “Selma is 45 miles away. When you have a heart attack or a bad injury, that distance to travel can be life or death.”
The program had a total of 19 residents graduate — 14 of them are staying in Alabama to help those in need of quality medical care — 55 of the program’s 72 alumni now work in underserved areas. That’s three times the national average — 16 out of 38 alumni who have completed the rural track are practicing in rural areas. That’s eight times the national average.
