Pennsylvania will need 11 percent more primary care doctors by 2030, according to the Joint State Government Commission.
The state already has 155 health professional shortage areas for primary care, and with 27 percent of Pennsylvania’s doctors 60 years of age or older and more than half older than 50, the commission believes the state needs to take steps to ensure the adequacy of its future supply of physicians.
With this need in mind, the commission has offered a series of recommendations for increasing Pennsylvania’s supply of doctors, including encouraging medical schools to do more to train primary care providers, improving student loan repayment programs, and offering more residency positions in the hope that more residents will remain in the state.
For a closer look at the commission’s findings and recommendations, go here for a Central Penn Business Journal article and here for the commission’s report itself.