Newsmakers: Wisconsin Physician Shortage
A new Wisconsin Hospital Association (WHA) report estimated that Wisconsin faces a shortfall of about 2,000 physicians by 2030 — a gap that could be made up if 100 more physicians were trained each year. In a Newsmakers program on Dec. 8, four health-care professionals — George Quinn, WHA senior policy advisor; Robert Golden, M.D., Dean of UW School of Medicine and Public Health; Timothy Bartholow, M.D., chief medical officer for the Wisconsin Medical Society; and Tim Size, Executive Director of the Wisconsin Rural Health Care Cooperative — said the problem is quickly growing worse, and critical care gaps will soon emerge if changes are not made. Now, the UW Medical School graduates 175 students per year; the Medical College of Wisconsin, about 210. The report says one option is building a new Wausau-area medical school to train primary care physicians, although estimates say that would cost $70 million or more.
