Photo of the cover of the San Francisco Marin Medical Society Journal
Dr. Elson Haas
written by
Dr. Elson Haas

Oct 07, 2024

Article Tags: lifestyle | health education | integrative medicine | integrative medicine clinic

This article was recently published in the quarterly journal of the San Francisco Marin Medical Society (SFMMS), an organization whose membership represents over 3,000 doctors in the SF Bay Area.

You can read the full article HERE

The Primary Care Desert

By some estimates 350,000 people in the greater San Francisco Bay Area are experiencing a shortage of primary care providers. The California Healthcare Foundation says that a third of Californians in general live with this shortage of primary care providers, especially in rural areas. This is not only a problem in California and the Bay Area, but sadly the entire US is suffering from a shortage of physicians in general. According to Fraser Research, the physician shortage over the next decade is predicted to be more than 100,000 practitioners.  This includes primary family doctors and many specialists. Americans are the least likely people in the developed countries to have any kind of relationship with a primary care provider.  The disparity is even greater in Black and Hispanic populations and those at the lower end of the economic spectrum.

This shortage is especially the case in Marin, Sonoma County and San Francisco counties. What can we do to change that? After all, we live in the beautiful Bay Area, paradise every day. Why can’t we attract young doctors to join or build a practice? Yes, it’s expensive here and I hear that many who think that’s why there’s the lack of primaries in our area.

Most new physicians going into practice today want a contract and a guaranteed salary, often to pay their school loans. They don’t want to be running their own medical business especially if they may not have had any training in this area. They also want the protection from malpractice lawsuits that large organizations provide. So, they join bigger corporate or hospital practices, such as Sutter or Kaiser Permanente.

But what about the old-time GP (General Practitioner)? Getting to know the patients and their families is still an important aspect of a successful and helpful medical practice. It becomes more than merely “what’s wrong and what medication/drug will fix (or cover up) the problem?” That’s “quick medicine” rather than a more ideal relationship of medical care, which I have embraced these many decades. Seeing families and individuals and knowing them over 20-30 years is quite rewarding. Growing (and glowing) health is my goal.

Within the current model, insurance reimbursements for office visits are limited, and doctors tend to be busy with many patients, appointments tend to be too short and often deal with very specific problems. At Preventive Medical Center of Marin, we take more time with patients and explore what’s going on with whatever symptoms and life issues that are out of balance.

The Latin word “docere” means teacher and I have always embraced the role of doctor as an educator. That is why I have written 11 books and teach online classes – so that people can learn how to take care of themselves with simple lifestyle medicine. Two of my favorite maxims are “our health is much more in our own hands than we realize” and “learn to become your own best doctor.” This is more important than ever with the shortage of primary care physicians.

As always, Stay Healthy!

Dr. Elson Haas