Their goal is to discuss how the chamber can help the medical community attract and retain qualified health-care professionals. The chamber is perfectly suited to get involved in beefing up health-care services in the area. Access to qualified, expansive health care is a quality of life issue. And that makes it an economic development issue for the community, an area in which the chamber should be intimately involved.
Medical officials lament the difficulty in attracting doctors to the area.
And once they set up shop, many don't hang around long enough to wear out a stethoscope. That is draining, physically and emotionally, on their employers, and their patients. Many businesses in the community experience high levels of turnover, but the impact on the community is greater when it involves medical specialists, because that has an immediate negative effect on patients. But, the outcome of Thursday's power lunch could have ramifications that extend beyond the medical services community. An effective community-based recruitment program may help other professions, particularly education, in improving their personnel recruitment efforts.