University System of GA Tries To Prevent Doctor Shortage

A partnership between the University of Georgia and the Medical College of Georgia has been formalized. The goal is to expand medical education in the state. The Georgia Board of Regents approved Tuesday a memorandum of understanding between the two campuses. The agreement seals the deal on a joint MCG-UGA campus in Athens, where UGA is based. The University System of Georgia is trying to produce more doctors to fill an expected statewide shortage of 2,500 physicians by 2020.

(Associated Press)

Police arrest alleged fake doctors

In northwest Georgia, Canton police have shut down a medical clinic they say was being run by fake doctors. Authorities say brothers Miguel and Raul Valez allegedly performed surgeries and filled prescriptions despite having no medical training. The duo are under investigation for their possible connection to operating other medical clinics in metro Atlanta.

Governor gets involved in flu shot flap

Georgians may find it harder and more expensive these days to get a flu shot through chain drug- and grocery stores. Flu vaccine shots may not be offered this year due to an uncovered Georgia law.

For over a decade, Georgia has had a law on the books that says flu vaccines need to be prescribed for distribution. NO one has really looked at it closely until this year, when a complaint came to the state medical board. Someone questioned whether it was enough for one physician to sign off on various pharmacies giving out flu shots. This practice is known as a ‘blanket protocol’. Dr. Jean Sumner is president of the Georgia Medical board.

"We are required to by law to investigate those complaints, and last year we received a complaint regarding the dispertion of flu shots by pharmacists. We interviewed the physician who had signed the protocol. We both acknowledged the law stated that was not legal. This has been a long-standing, established law that says the physician has to prescribe the flu shot. Therefore, he was citing protocols of some of the chain drugstores and elected not to do that anymore".

Without a protocol, drugstores and grocery stores without a practitioner or doctor could be violating Georgia law. Some have canceled their vaccine orders. Sumner says the Medical Board asked the Governor Perdue for help, but aside from a special session, nothing can be done until the next legislative session in January.

Governor Perdue issued a statement backing pharmacists, saying they should distribute flu shots just like they have in years past. The Governors' statement:

"This administration fully supports needed flu shots being safely dispensed to Georgians this flu season. For public health reasons, we believe it is imperative that pharmacists and others act as they have in the past. No statute or regulation has passed or was promulgated in the past 12 months that would change the ability of pharmacists to administer flu shots. No one has been prosecuted for delivering flu shots in the standard manner of past years. This administration will not call for sanctions against those acting in the best interests of Georgians and in a manner consistent with past practices. It is my expectation that healthcare professionals will act in the best interests of public health and continue prior practices."

Dr. Sumner says for the upcoming flu season, the change may simply be a change in venue. "Look around, get one from your doctor, get one from your health department, get one from the 'Minute Clinic'...from any provider that can prescribe. But you can't go to a clinic where there's not a provider or prescriber to issue the flu shot".
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Medical College of Georgia study recommends expansion in multiple cities

A state-funded report released today says Medical College of Georgia must undertake a major expansion immediately, or else put the health of Georgians at risk.

It warns of a critical doctor shortage, and says medical education, research, and clinical missions must happen in multiple cities in Georgia at the same time to avoid that.

The report was presented to the state's Board of Regents in Atlanta on Tuesday.

Some key recommendations:

*Expand medical education at the college's main campus in Augusta by increasing class size of first year students. Consultants say the increase would give the main campus the largest number of medical students per capita nationwide.

*Open a new medical education and research campus in Athens.

*Provide expanded clinical rotations at campuses in Albany and Savannah.

*Increase the number of medical residencies statewide.

"Our medical needs are increasing. Our population growth is outpacing presently our physician resources and certainly our physician growth and this puts the economy of this state at risk" said Errol Davis, chancellor of the Board of Regents. "We have a plan that, if implemented, will ensure that Georgia is a state and remains a state that is healthy both for its citizens and for its businesses within the state."

The proposed satellite campus in Athens is one of the most controversial recommendations. Consultants urge MCG to open one soon.

They say the campus should be located on the property of a U.S. Navy Supply Corps school that is closing and transferring operations to Rhode Island.

Officials in Athens today welcomed the proposal, but some legislators in the Augusta area decried it.

"We're going to need the physicians, but if we try to do both at one time, we may not do both right, and I'd rather us expand here, grow Augusta, get to the capacity we can get at, educate doctors properly and do a quality job, and then if we have to expand, then take it to Athens for that satellite facility if that's what we decide we should do," said Rep. Ben Harbin (R-Evans).

Harbin's opinion is key. That's because he chairs the powerful House appropriations committee. And whether the Board of Regents approves the recommendations or not, the legislature in effect, has the final say, since they must approve funding for any expansion.

"We are going to fund expansion in Augusta, because it has to happen," said Harbin. "But Athens, we're going to look at it. There's going to have to be a case made right now. I'm not favorable to it...but I may can be persuaded."

Population growth could outpace doctors

Georgia’s rapid population growth could cause a potential shortage of doctors in state clinics and hospitals. The number of Georgia physicians is not keeping pace with rising demands for medical care. A panel of state lawmakers is studying ways to head off the shortage. Georgia ranks 37th nationally in number of physicians per 100,000 residents.

Lawmakers hear support for Grady training program

State lawmakers studying Georgia's growing doctor shortage say Atlanta's financially troubled Grady Hospital is critical to training physicians across the state.

Researchers told the state house committee that Georgia needs more physicians to keep pace with its growing and aging population. They say Grady Hospital's residency program attracts young doctors who otherwise would not come to Georgia. Presidents of Morehouse School of Medicine and Emory's medical school say Grady is a "magnet" for doctors, and the loss of the public hospital training program would give them "heartburn." Yet local officials say Grady may close at the end of the year unless it gets more that $120 million.

State Rep. Barry Fleming, the committee chair, was listening.

"There's not a better teaching program probably in the Southeast than in Grady as far as educating doctors on how to work on patients," Fleming said during a break in the meeting. "That's why the health of Grady is vital."

Fleming says Georgia should shore up current programs, including Grady's residency training, before launching new ones. He represents Harlem, a suburb of Augusta, and supports an expansion of the Medical College of Georgia there. But eventually, Fleming says, the state will need a second public medical school at the University of Georgia in Athens.