According to a study in the New England Journal of Medicine, a county the size of Humboldt should have at least 13 Obstetrician/Gynecologists (OB/GYN’s). But it has only five, and four of them are age 65 or older. Only two of them work full time.
“I’m 65 this year and I had a heart attack three years ago,” says Dr. Deepak Stokes, who is one of those full-time obstetricians. “What would happen if I have a heart attack again tomorrow? Then all of a sudden [there] is a major crisis and you just can’t fill it overnight.”
More than likely, finding a replacement physician would take months. The United States is facing a shortage of OB/GYN’s of nearly 25-percent over the next 15 years. Nationally, the number of OB/GYN training programs—and the number of medical students entering them—has been dropping. The shortage will likely be most acutely felt in rural counties, half of which do not have an OB/GYN....KEEP READING...
OB-GYN In California And Oregon By The Numbers:
OREGON
. ‑480 OB-GYN’s serving 1.6 million women.
. ‑2.99 OB-GYN’s per 10,000 women or 6.32 per 10,000 women of childbearing age (15–45) [National Average = 2.65 & 5.42 respectively]
. ‑Oregon’s female population expected to increase by 28% by 2030
. ‑1 out of 3 Oregon counties do NOT have an OB-GYN.
. ‑Oregon has one OB-GYN residency training program graduating 7 physicians each year.
. ‑45% of Oregon births are financed by Medicaid [National Average is 45%]
CALIFORNIA
. ‑3,711 OB-GYN’s serving 15.2 million women.
. ‑2.44 OB-GYN’s per 10,000 women or 4.69 per 10,000 women of childbearing age (15–45)
. ‑California’s female population expected to increase by 22% by 2030
. ‑9 of 58 California counties do NOT have an OB-GYN.
. ‑California has 9 OB-GYN residency training programs graduating 98 physicians each year.
. ‑48% of California births are financed by Medicaid (aka Medi-Cal).
Source: American College of Obstetrics & Gynecology 2014 Workforce Fact Sheet (acog.org)
