Shortage in Primary Care met with BCBSNC Program
It’s no secret that family Physicians seem to be few and far between these days. With a greater number of medical students deciding to specialize in a specific area of medicine it was beginning to seem as though the era of the family Physician was coming to an end. To combat the shortage of primary care Physicians the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina (BCBSNC) Foundation has announced a $1.18 million grant that will benefit the North Carolina Academy of Family Physicians Foundation. This grant is specifically aimed to provide a greater number of family Physicians to North Carolinians by encouraging more medical students to pursue a career to that end.
“Communities across North Carolina work hard to attract quality physicians to provide primary care for our citizens,” said Brad Wilson, chairman of the BCBSNC Foundation. “However, we are already faced with a national shortage of primary care physicians, and the recently passed health care reform legislation will mean an increase in the number of folks seeking care. We hope that through this initiative, North Carolina medical students will receive the help and incentive they need to make a commitment to family medicine.” (BCBSNC Newsroom)
The money will, in part, benefit the Family Medicine Interest and Scholars Program which again aims at increasing the number of medical students looking to go into primary care. Thanks to BCBSNC all North Carolinians may benefit in the near future from an increase in primary care Physicians, which again goes to show the importance not only of family Physicians but also of Insurance in general to local communities.
