Idaho below 48 other states in the number of doctors per person. The Blue Cross of Idaho’s charitable foundation is trying to reverse that shortage by making a $100,000 grant to Family Medicine Residency of Idaho (FMRI), which helps medical school graduates work in rural Idaho.
“There is a critical shortage of primary care physicians in Idaho, and the foundation’s donation is one way we can help make a difference,” said Ray Flachbart, the chairman of the Blue Cross of Idaho Foundation for Health, which will make similar donations the next two years. Flachbart formally made the first donation in the office of Gov. Butch Otter this week.
Otter told IdahoReporter.com that though all of the U.S. is facing a shortage in primary care doctors, Idaho’s geography makes it tough for doctors to serve all of the state.
The event in the governor’s office didn’t include a financial commitment from the state. The Idaho State Department of Education has a Rural Physicians Incentive Program scheduled to start making payments to new doctors in rural areas with debt from medical school.
Otter said that the economics of becoming a doctor, including student debt and low payment for government-backed medical care, lead many into specialty care rather than primary care.
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Dr. Ted Epperly, the CEO of FMRI, said medical school students graduate with an average of $150,000 in debt.
FMRI’s program requires new doctors to train in three different rural Idaho cities during their three-year residency. The grant money from Blue Cross will pay for some of their salaries and benefits while working in rural Idaho.
Epperly said the grant money will help get family care doctors into underserved areas.
FMRI has work sites in 27 cities for its residents to train.
AARP Idaho, which represents older Idahoans, has called the doctor shortage one of the key issues facing the state.
