As a retired Idaho Family Physician, I always knew this was a frontier state. Some folks must travel a hundred miles for basic health care.
But the folks in the big cities can forget this.
When I trained, in medical school and residency, we appreciated the frontiers. I was trained in places that dealt with the difficult cases from the Alaskan outback to the North Idaho wilds. They got sorted out by the locals, and the problems came on to us.
I wanted to be out there, sorting it out. I got excellent training.
This sort of care needs vision, coordination and cooperation. It doesn’t just happen.
I could tell you all the failures and successes I have dealt with.
It’s part of why I ran for office, to serve in the Idaho legislature. I remember telling a prominent lobbyist, the support for the WWAMI program was a budget placeholder. Sure, we are sending money to Washington, but it’s teaching us legislators just what investment we need to make to build the physician base for us here. We will someday go off on our own.
Idaho should build its own medical training system. And the money we have been spending on supporting WWAMI and U of Utah students will be the budgetary base we can build on.
So now we have a five-year grant opportunity from the One Big Whatever.
But our Idaho legislators are hesitant to support any of this money to be a build out for an Idaho Medical future.
Their hesitancy is because such an investment now would require ongoing funding.
Duh.
The federal money is only five years, if you have the balls to take it. The Feds (Trump et al) were wise to see if a state had the balls to commit.
Maybe we don’t. Maybe the policy makers we elect don’t see training docs and nurses and EMTs worth the taxes we take from you. Maybe they think…I don’t honestly know what they think.
But I know that training good practitioners to care for the health of our communities is a good investment.
Just as I was leaving the Idaho legislature, I came to realize many of our elected officials did not share my view.
I was fighting for Medicaid Expansion. They hated my guts.
But some understood. John Rusche MD, from Lewiston and Fred Wood MD from Burley and I had frequent discussions. Notice, it’s just the degree behind their names, not their political affiliation.
But todays Idaho legislature with its culture warriors and California transplants has no physicians, few medical personnel in their mix.
But they will decide where we should stand on this opportunity for investment.
We trust them, don’t we?
They don’t want the taxpayer to be on the hook for any medical education investment. Heck, they probably think taxpayer dollars should only go to moms that stay at home and home school their kids.
You got me going. Let me return to the point.
Do you think an investment in medical education would serve the prosperity of this state?
If you don’t, then why the hell are you sending money to the states of Utah and Washington to train our future doctors? And why would you support the money our taxpayers send to ISU for pharmacists and LCSC for nurses, and there’s a lot more you could cut if you want a list.
Just answer the question!
They aren’t. The legislators you will elect aren’t answering this question. Maybe you aren’t either.
It’s a reasonable question.
In the old days, 150 years ago, doctors took money from the folks who wanted to learn and then they showed them the ropes.
But the medical care then was dismal. The study of that care, and the recommendations have given us our current system.
We should have good providers caring for us. It’s worth the investment.
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