" Here is another funny joke..

what do you call a medical student who graduated at the bottom of his/her class?

answer: the first person in his/her class to have a malpractice suit files against them. "

" To "Makes you wonder":

There's an old joke that goes like this:

What do you call the medical school student who graduated at the bottom of his class:

Answer: Doctor.

However, the next time you or your loved on is in the ER, be sure to ask the treating physician if you can see a copy of his CV, med school scores, and resume.

The physicians in this community are not here to make the big bucks. They are here because we love Klamath Falls and we want to serve the community.

So instead of speculating where we placed in our medical school classes, why don't you try a simple "thank you."? "

" I wonder with all of the detractors that go along with being a doctor in Klamath, what quality of doctors are we getting, I mean hay, if we are paying top price, should we not be getting top care?
Of the last 10 doctors that have come to Klamath, I wonder where they ranked in their class at Med school? Are we getting the bottom of the doctor barrel? "

" bring the MAMA (Mother's Against Marijuana Abuse) to Klamath Falls. Dr. Paysse (sp) is a certified MD-ex-internal medicine in THE Dalles. She will treat a number of people here inflicted with the debilitating effects of chronic pain, glaucoma, HIV, side effects of cancer treatment, and other conditions. This will lighten the load on private sector doctors afraid to treat these people and/or allow doctors to continue practicing here by referencing people to her so they won't have to treat them. "

" To Jenny: I feel very hurt by what you have to say about Seniors. Why do you generalize and say they feel "entitled" and are rude and complain that the town is FLOODED by them? "

" I agree, altamont dr. needs to be gone, and turned into commericial.
We all know that the community leaders want to keep this place small by keeping washburn and s.sixth the only 'main' streets. so if we demolish some nasty houses and turn them into more business, this town will look better. Like the back street by rite aide, those houses are gross! and a prime area for business.
And im sorry sandra you dont see how bad it is getting. Ive lived in several cities also, and alot of them will not put up with nastys in their tourist areas, and shouldnt our downtown be our 'tourist' area, as klamath really has nothing else to offer? "

" This topic is a critical issue for Klamath County. You may favor the Charter or not, but candidates for the proposed Charter want to make this issue a top priority for the future of Klamath County government. Our current commissioners have ignored this problem for too long. The county needs a special taskforce to address this problem and do whatever is needed to attract and keep doctors. There are solutions to the problem, and voting for the Charter will start a process to help solve the problem. Keep the current commissioners and you might need to travel to Medford more than you like. Vote for the Charter. "

" DR. NO,

Please make sure you go to Meford in case of an emergency as well. SLMC can't win with you either way, you'll always find something to complain about. Hey on second thought why don't you just go ahead move to Medford. Has anyone every driven into town on from 39 or 97 lately? It resembles a third world country. Please take some bulldozers and knock over those disgusting eye sores, especially on 39 and Altamont. Why would any physician in his right mind drive into town by that mess then read a few negative letter to the editor articles about docs and the hospital and not get back in his or her car and get the heck out of here! "

" My wife already goes to one doc in Medford for her diabetes as there is no specialist's in that field here. So heck we go to Costco, eat in some decent places, spend $$. When Klamath loses these docs there will be a giant sucking sound of area dollars going to Medford. "

" It really isn't the 'community' in and of itself that send the docs packing, it is the hospital admin, good ol' boy docs and their attitude toward change. We have had several docs who left because of hospital attitudes and one doc who actually WANTED to return to Klamath after going away to receive extensive training to better serve OUR AREA....guess what? good ol' SLMC said...."we don't want you, take your services elsewhere". Tell me that SLMC is looking after the community needs.---I will go to Medford before I have anything done at our area hospital. "

" Really, Jenny? I mean- not to get WAY off of topic, as you just did, but I've lived in several LARGE cities & can tell you that the quality of life is much better here in Klamath Falls. What I see when I go downtown is a lot of fun, progressive shopping instead of the vacant buildings I have seen in the downtowns of larger cities. You think just putting people in jail will solve the "tweeker" problem and bring more physicians here? Gosh, we should have thought about that a long time ago. NEWSflash- most residency programs are located in downtowns within larger cities where the heart of the drug problems exist. MOST residents are coming to rural areas like ours because they don't want that lifestyle anymore.

The grass is always greener... where you water it. If you don't have enough places to eat out, open a new one instead of griping about it. "

" To Sarah... And others like you.
I hope more people move here that are not retiree's. This town is FLOODED with 'entitled' older people.
(who are so rude!)
It would be great if younger family's flooded this area, then the stores and resturants will want to come here. Or what is rumored the stores wont be 'voted' out by certain companies to keep this town small.
Then maybe we will get more Doctors willing to live here.
Because, sadly it does come down to the quality of life here in Klamath. And it is getting worse, not better. We do not have enough good resturants (way too many fast food), not enough good clothing stores, etc. Maybe alot of the people that dont understand why people dont stay here, never lived anywhere else. IF you have lived somewhere else, you know then Klamath is the bottom of the list when it comes to quality of life. Seriously, do any of you like to walk downtown and see all the tweekers? In bigger cities they seem to be strict and keep most of the nastys off the streets.
(to keep the area nice looking)
Maybe Klamath should do that, lets arrest the tweekers, keep them in jail for a year no matter what. Then I bet people will think before they do meth.
Then our community will get better slowly, more people will move here, and more doctors will come!
Very simple. Just will take alot of time. "

" The threat of nationalized healthcare is also driving doctors out of practice as well as difficulties with Medicare (a nationalized healthcare system) and high malpractice premiums. Note to R: I have Blue Cross coverage. I call and say that I 'd like to go to a particular specialist (chiro esp.) and they arrange to pay at 80% instead of 60%. Because of the distance to Medford; they will work with you so you might want to try a little harder. "

" I can tell you why the residents don't stay- there is no loan reimburesment program in KF's. Most residents come out of their schooling and training over $200000 in debt. Other communities offer packages to encourage people to move there- such as loan reimbursement, based on the amount of time a new physician stays in the community. (Maybe $25-50,000 per year of work) There is NO program like this in KF's. Add to that the fact that there is no hospitalist service in KF's. That means if you are a FP physician, you get to not only have a clinic that is 60+ hours of work a week- you get to also go take care of hospital patients in your "free time." And with the way Medicare payments are, your hospital time hardly pays for your gas, to and from the hospital. Much less the hours you are spending away from your family. Also, the Medicare reimbursement rates are extremely low in Klamath Falls, compared to other areas.

So- if you want to stay here & work, you get less pay, more hours, and no loan reimburesement. Hope that helps answer your question - - - "

" I am very much concerned about the doctor shortage and the medicare situation. We have bought a home in Klamath Falls and will be moving there when the housing market improves enough that we can sell our current home (no - we are not from California. My parents grew up in Oregon and graduated from Oregon State) Klamath Falls is trying to attract retirees who will have money to spend locally and help the economy, but this situation will only discourage people from this. I am even wondering if this is the right decision, although I very much want to move to Klamath Falls. "

" What is the reason that the residents of Cascades East Family Practice Residency are choosing to leave after graduation versus staying in Klamath Falls? "

" Physicians leaving the area mostly have to do with hospital administration not extending a welcome to them, especially if they sign on as a hospital physician versus a private practice physician. If a physician speaks out against hospital administration, in attempts to either hold them accountable or to change "rules" that have been held up as part of the "good ole' boys' system" is one of the main factors of a physician staying or leaving. Why would someone want to stay where they are not welcome? The wife of a physician (doesn't a husband of a physician count?) not being "satisfied with shopping" really has nothing to do with whether a physician stays or not. "

" My elderly father's long-time physician is apparently moving out of the area in February. It seems though, that the clinic hasn't bothered to send out letters to their affected patients to let them know if they will be assigned another Dr. at the same clinic, or if they will need to find a new Dr. I think this is unprofessional and not courteous. My poor father is beside himself worrying. When I called the clinic, they would not give any details. Sad. "

" The retiring of local doctors is just the tip of the iceburg regarding physcians leaving the area. Contracts are not being signed by the local hospital to keep quality caregivers in the area. There exists numerous nurses as well, who are unemployed, when the hospital is going without nurses. What is up with that? Quality care is and always has been an issue here in the basin. It is not just becasue Doc's dont want to live here or their wives are not satisfied with the lack of local fare. A new facility does not make up for lack of internal management and quality work conditionsi.e. lack of leadership at the top. That is why my physcian left the community. "

" I am covered by the Oregon Health Plan and had no problem finding a doctor here. The first one was an old guy who will retire soon, and all I can say is good riddance. I asked for a different doctor at the same practice and now have a younger physician who is very competent, interested, and thorough. I have seen them turn away Medicare patients though, while in the waiting room. I think that program is more of a problem than availability of physicians. "

" I have a problem finding doctors who are "preferred participating providers" of my insurance, which is Blue Cross. I can find general practioners but not specialists. I have to go to Ashland if I want to get 80% payment from my insurance. "

" I've been trying to find a doctor in K. Falls for 2 years. I recently heard of a newer doctor in town who is still accepting patients, but upon calling his office for an appt., I was told that before I could make one, I needed to fill out a form and then the doc would determine if I was worthy or not to become his patient. Upon viewing his website & seeing that even though he is a F.P. physician, his interests lie in laser surgery for wrinkle removal. Even before receiving his form in the mail, I've determined I'll probably not meet his criteria because that is not what I'm looking for, and I've never heard of the likes of something like this. I made an appointment with a doc in Medford instead. We see this doctor shortage problem as very damaging for K. Falls. I don't know how K. Falls intends to grow when so much of the necessities of life are not available here. Who would want to move here just to have to travel to Medford or Bend for things like a routine physical, not to mention if one has a problem that requires more intense medical treatment. I know when I go to Medford for my appt., I'll probably do my shopping there too in order to kill two birds with one stone, therefore taking more of the economic factor away from K. Falls. All I can say is that if K.Falls doesn't get on the ball and do something about this ever increasing problem, it wil suffer the consequences in many ways & more than it already has. And that's really too bad as otherwise it is such a nice place to live. "

" I am afraid we will all be affected by this. My Doc and my wifes doc have both said they will be gone in a year. My has said she is moving in May. We have friends in the health care business that say there we could lose 9 doctors in the next 18 months with no new ones coming in. Add that to the Medicare mess and this burg could be in trouble. Ask your MD how much longer he/she will be here and start looking as we are for a place the change. "