Some 44 percent of doctors now practicing in the valley plan to retire within three years, according to the Santa Clara County Medical Association survey. Those statistics jibe with projections at Kaiser Santa Theresa, where about half the physicians are expected to retire in the next five to 10 years, says hospital spokeswoman Kimberly Ellis. As more physicians retire and not enough young doctors take their place to handle the growing and aging population, access to health care could become a big problem in the valley. But some in the community believe a crisis could occur even sooner. We predict that in three years there will be a critical shortage of specialty-care physicians.
Shortages already exist in neurology and gastroenterology.
In West San Jose, there are just 10 neurologists, six of whom are over 60. The area needs 12, says Terry Rutledge, who handles business development for Community Hospital of Los Gatos. Camino Medical Group in Sunnyvale has needed a gastroenterologist for two years, says CEO, Dr. Richard Slavin. Like most workers in the valley, physicians expect higher starting salaries to live here. Further compounding the recruitment problem is the fact that the federal government requires some specialists to live within 30 minutes of a hospital so they can respond quickly in an emergency.