Rural areas find themselves at a marked disadvantage when it comes to finding accessible and affordable medical care. These regions are traditionally underserved because of the difficulty in drawing health care professions to serve in places with smaller populations, and which traditionally have lower incomes and education levels.
Freshman U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan hopes to change that trend through the Rural Physician Pipeline Act, a bill that would add incentives to doctors who serve these areas. The need is real, and members on both sides of the aisle would do well to make passage of this act a priority when Congress returns to work.
Eastern North Carolina knows all too well the challenge of providing medical care to residents throughout this region. Pitt County Memorial Hospital has grown to become an invaluable service provider to residents in 26 counties, but it was not long ago that residents outside Greenville and Pitt County struggled to find care.
A key institution that has changed that situation is the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University. Since its establishment more than 30 years ago, the school has focused on rural health and encouraging its graduates to serve those regions in need of gifted health professionals.
Hagan aims to bolster that effort through her bill, which is under committee consideration. The legislation, which she co-sponsored with U.S. Sen. Mark Udall of Colorado, would provide funding to create a specific degree track for those wishing to practice medicine in rural areas. It would also expand recruiting efforts in those areas, to give students who seek a career in medicine the opportunity to pursue that dream and help their communities.
Udall is hopeful that the health care reform under heated debate in Washington would include assistance for rural areas, but it is hard to share his optimism. Rural regions are routinely neglected, despite overwhelming evidence they are most in need of help. Residents of eastern North Carolina have never received the type of care enjoyed in more urban areas, and suffer from higher levels of disease and shorter life spans as a result.
This bill may not be the cure-all to that problem, but it represents an important attempt to address a major inadequacy. Legislation that aims directly at the problem of poor health care in rural regions is needed, and Hagan’s effort should have the support of both parties as it progresses.
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