Thu. Apr 25th, 2024

Looks like the Pennsylvania Health Dept is playing games with the COVID vaccine. They are cutting distribution to smaller practices even though there have been no issues with them.

Among the doctors who will likely be affected by the policy shift — the biggest by the state Health Department since the vaccines were first rolled out in December — is Natalie Gentile, who operates Gentile Family Direct Primary Care in Highland Park.

Dr. Gentile receives vaccine from Direct Care Physicians of Pittsburgh, a group of doctors who don’t accept health insurance, but rather charge patients a monthly fee for medical care.

Dr. Gentile’s practice received its order for 300 second doses of the vaccine last week, but not the 200 first-shot doses that she’d also requested. It’s unclear whether the department is ending first-shot dose shipments to her practice, she said.

“We used every single drop of our vaccine,” Dr. Gentile said. “Now, we’re not going to be allowed to do what we’re best at. We don’t have the big influence; we just have the heart and care about the community.”

It is nice to see doctors banding together like Direct Care Physicians of Pittsburgh. Unfortunately, small DPC practices, like Gentile Family Direct Primary Care, are little ants compared to the other monstrosities that make up our broken healthcare system.

Keep fighting the good fight, Dr. Gentile. We are rooting for you.

5850cookie-checkDr. Natalie Gentile Fighting Back Against the Bureaucracy Limiting Her COVID Vaccine
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By Douglas Farrago, MD

Douglas Farrago MD is board certified in the specialty of Family Practice. He is the inventor of a product called the Knee Saver which is currently in the Baseball Hall of Fame. The Knee Saver and its knock-offs are worn by many major league baseball catchers. He is also the inventor of the CryoHelmet used by athletes for head injuries as well as migraine sufferers. From 2001 – 2011, Dr. Farrago was the editor and creator of the Placebo Journal which ran for 10 full years. Described as the Mad Magazine for doctors, he and the Placebo Journal were featured in the Washington Post, US News and World Report, the AP, and the NY Times. Douglas Farrago, MD received his Bachelor of Science from the University of Virginia in 1987, his Masters of Education degree in the area of Exercise Science from the University of Houston in 1990, and his Medical Degree from the University of Texas at Houston in 1994. His residency training occurred way up north at the Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, Maine. In his final year, he was elected Chief Resident by his peers. Dr. Farrago has practiced family medicine for twenty-three years, first in Auburn, Maine and now in Forest, Virginia. He founded Forest Direct Primary Care in 2014, which quickly filled in 18 months. Dr. Farrago still blogs every day on his website Authenticmedicine.com and lectures worldwide about the present crisis in our healthcare system and the effect it has on the doctor-patient relationship. Dr. Farrago’s has written three books on direct primary care: The Official Guide to Starting Your Own Direct Primary Care Practice, The Direct Primary Care Doctor’s Daily Motivational Journal and Slowing the Churn in Direct Primary Care (While Also Keeping Your Sanity) are all best sellers in this genre. He is a leading expert in direct primary care model and lectures medical students, residents, and doctors on how to start their own DPC practice. He retired from clinical medicine in October, 2020.

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