We are in a Healthcare Crisis. When will we wake the F#%k up?!
This post was by Michelle Cooke, MD:
Excuse the profanity, but not really. I really don’t know how else to get the attention that this crisis deserves. It just feels like no one is paying attention.
Over 100 US Hospitals have closed in the last decade.
More than 600 Hospitals are at risk of closing.
More than 145,000 Physicians left the workforce between 2021-22.
More than 60% of Physicians are burned out.
Up to 40% of physicians plan to exit the workforce in the next 2 years.
Walgreens shuttered over 150 VillageMD Clinics nationwide.
Walmart shut down its ENTIRE group of healthcare clinics – citing that there was no path to profitability in primary care.
Nationwide, the wait to see a primary care physician is nearly 30 days – if you’re lucky.
And to top it all off, Medicare plans to cut an additional 2.8% to physician payments in 2025.
Check my facts if you want to. It will only make you more depressed. We spend more than any other nation on healthcare, But we have healthcare outcomes that many developing nations would be ashamed of. This is clearly a problem that more money won’t solve. We have a crisis of care model & delivery.
As a Direct Primary Care evangelist, I truly believe that DPC is the greatest hope we have to rebuild our healthcare system. But I am so fearful that the DPC movement is not moving fast enough.
While I am fortunate to have my own DPC physician, I know we need an entire healthcare system that works. Even as a physician who lives in one of the top ten largest US cities, I do not trust that my city has the resources to care for me if I have a health emergency.
I’m also fed up with arguing with DPC naysayers. Direct Primary Care is the only growing segment of the healthcare system. But rather than learn what DPC is doing right, too many are steadfast in arguing that it’s wrong and will fail. We are wasting more than $4 TRILLION (with a “T”) dollars annually on terrible healthcare, but somehow a Direct Primary Care membership at $150 or less per month is “unaffordable.”
How many people have to die unnecessarily due to a lack of quality healthcare in the world’s wealthiest nation before we create real solutions?
I am angry. Really angry.
But I am also really scared.
Dr. Michelle Cooke is not only a rock-star Family Physician, she is a wife, boy-mom, yogi and a proud Direct Primary Care Physician. She is the owner & founder of Southwest Atlanta’s first DPC Practice – Sol Direct Primary Care. The DPC model frees Dr. Cooke to spend more time with her patients to practice lifestyle medicine. She helps her patients achieve their best health with less medication! When she is not in the office, you’ll find Dr. Cooke on the yoga mat, frolicking in nature, or jamming to live music around Atlanta. https://sol-dpc.org
love your passion !
and I’m right there with you.
Congress must change to laws to allow doctors to own hospitals.
That should be a no brainer. But of course, doctors can’t be trusted to own hospitals.
Excellent data points. Succinct enough that even congresspeople can understand them. DPC is such a no-brainer answer to the question of how to deliver GREAT preventive/acute/chronic medical care to every patient at an affordable cost, and at a level that supports and sustains physicians’ financial AND emotional/spiritual/physical/social wellbeing.
This is a phenomenal article! Thank you for the stats and data! You are so helpful!