[Bogie Shooter]

Originally Posted by golfing eagles

So much in medicine is changing so quickly that our whole country is experiencing growing pains. There is now an emphasis on draconian over-regulation and reporting to insurance companies and the government agencies that has robbed time from patients to fulfill bureaucratic wet dreams. The financing of health care for patients, providers, and institutions is undergoing vast changes. The demographics of providers and the nature of practice is evolving rapidly. The technology, and its cost changes almost daily. The body of medical knowledge now doubles every 2-3 years by some estimates. The challenge is to keep pace.
GG is right---building offices is easy, it's what TV does best. Recruitment is a big hurdle everywhere. I know that the senior leadership of TV Healthcare is trying hard. I personally started getting headhunter letters from TV every 3-4 months starting 4-5 years ago, I just keep getting them, even though I retired. They were able to recruit one of our partners after 28 years in NY, and it looks like they are managing to staff their primary care offices. Clinicians are not necessary attracted by large teaching hospitals and grant money---this really only applies to academic physicians who want to do research and teach more than they want to see and treat patients. It does have a bigger impact on recruiting sub-specialists. Compensation is not the biggest factor either.
In our small city of 32,000, our primary care group has had great success in recruiting quality American University trained physicians. As I leave 8 doctors here to carry on, we have 3 HS valedictorians, I believe 5 summa cum laude university graduates, and residencies from SUNY to Charity in New Orleans to Wake Forrest and Univ of Michigan. Two of the 8 were chief residents, including Strong Memorial in Rochester, one of the best programs in the country. I have personally been part of recruiting all but one of them. The secret is that we deal honestly regarding work schedules, compensation, responsibilities and the group philosophy. There are no surprises and no unrealistic expectations.
I do not believe this model will survive for long. Private practice is A LOT of work beyond practicing medicine. Because of certain legal decisions, most notably the LIBBY ZION case, residency training has instilled a "shift mentality" into young doctors. Many now just want to work M-F, 8-5, no call, no hospital, no administrative duties and collect a paycheck, often as a salaried employee. This is the death knell of private practice. Solo and 2 physician partnerships are all but gone under the new reality, it will probably take at least a group of 6 to survive

Sorry to digress, but this was a summary of the challenges we face in American healthcare, among others.
Is VHC "overwhelmed"? I don't know. I believe the original plan was for 8 primary care centers, so given the ongoing recruitment I would not be surprised to see 2 more open, geographically Brownwood and Pine Ridge would be logical. This is just MY speculation, NOT inside info. Is the quality of medicine in Florida lagging? That's a huge generalization, but one I've thought true for the last 30 years based on treating "snowbirds". This too is changing, and applies to specialty care more than primary care anyway.
It takes a few months to get an initial appointment at VHC, but they allow plenty of time for visits so I understand the delay---but if you are signed up
they will take care of an urgent problem even before your 1st visit.
Bottom line , IMHO. TV and its healthcare is just facing the same problems as the rest of the nation. It will eventually settle out (or collapse). But even if the new reality fails, people need healthcare, so some other Phoenix will rise out of the ashes

Excellent post!