Rural health clinics need physicians

A shortage of doctors in many rural areas has placed added importance on nurses and doctors' assistants.

A clinic in Kirbyville is doing everything it can to serve the community, without the presence of a full-time doctor.

It's a constant in and out at the Newton Family Clinic in Kirbyville.

"I try to look at the whole person and see what they need," says Registered Nurse Anita Drake.

Anita Drake is a nurse practitioner. She goes through a round of questions with her patients.

She's trying to determine the next step in their health care.

"We have to look at the whole picture, so go over and above to help our patients because our resources are limited, we don't have additional staff to do it," says Drake.

Three days a week Drake runs the clinic. She and the other office workers do all of the case managing, and even try to help arrange transportation for some patients.

They're in need of a full-time physician.

"We've not been able to find someone who wants to come to a rural area. They want to go to larger cities," says Drake.

The Obama Administration is looking at ways to bring more physicians to rural areas. The Newton Family Clinic says that would bring much needed relief with an ever-growing amount of work.

"We could see more patients. There's just limited time," says Drake.

Drake could see up to 50 patients a day and says the need just keeps growing.

But she says getting a doctor in the door will be hard with so little to offer.

"We have overhead, have costs, have salaries. And when all divided out, there's not much left," says Drake.

However little is left, there is no shortage of care and concern for patients.

The government is studying several proposals to deal with the shortage, from attempting to get more people to enroll in medical schools, to expanding the National Health Service Corps, which sends nurses and doctors to rural areas.