Officials from the county s largest health care providers agree that the Central New York climate can keep health care professionals from relocating to Oswego County and can force some to leave after a brief encounter with the harshness of winter. For him, it s a reason doctors may not locate or stay in the area. A.L. Lee Memorial loses an average of one physician per year, a retention level Casey says is in line with the national average. Doctors relocate from the Fulton area due to family commitment, or a need for a different climate or lifestyle. Ellen Holst, director of Oswego County Opportunities Health Centers, is familiar with the weather factor, having recently lost two pediatricians due to the weather.
Weather is certainly an issue.
Lifestyle is also an issue that Holst views as a detriment to retaining physicians. A lack of employment opportunities for the spouses of doctors can also lend to difficulties in recruitment for OCO, which operates clinics in Oswego and Fulton and is one of the area s largest employers. With a turnover that she considers to be average to high, Holst says she sees a slow trend toward recruiting health care professionals to a rural area. For Oswego Hospital s administrator, Corte Spencer, the trend is now leaning to the rural setting, unlike a number of years ago when doctors were more inclined to locate to large cities. Casey finds the larger cities, in particular those with university hospitals, as stiff competition in A.L. Lee Memorial s recruiting efforts.