Wisconsin will need over 2200 more doctors to provide health care state residents will need in 2030

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Wisconsin will need at least 22-hundred more doctors to provide the health care that state residents will need in 2030. That's according to a new report from the Wisconsin Hospital Association. Reports of a pending doctor shortage are not new, but this is the first time the group estimated it in terms of numbers. About 80-percent of the shortage involves primary care doctors -- the ones who provide basic care for children-and-families. Chuck Shabino, the hospital association's senior medical adviser, says medical education is a long process -- and that's why the state's long-term needs should start being addressed now. Medical schools are beefing up their enrollments, and there's been talk of a third medical school in Wisconsin to join U-W Madison and the Medical College near Milwaukee. The U-W's Patrick McBride says the distribution of doctors is another problem that officials are trying to address. He says doctors are not always placed where they're needed. Funding for medical residencies is also a problem. Medicare pays for most residency programs -- and Congress put a cap on that funding almost 15 years ago. The Medical College and its affiliated systems now pay for 160 residency positions on their own.

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