By Tara Bozick
Published: March 30, 2011
Danville Regional Medical Center leaders and Danville leaders say the area should be proud of its hardworking doctors.
The hospital hopes to attract more doctors to the area and expects to announce two more primary care physician additions in July, when 37 medical residents will begin work under Danville’s doctors and help provide care to locals, said Dr. Saria Saccocio, DRMC chief medical officer.
Danville Regional recently announced a primary care clinic coming to Brosville and hopes to open three clinics total in strategic areas so that more residents can access primary care, she said.
With better access to primary care, residents should see better wait times in the Emergency Department as overcrowding with patients there for non-emergencies is reduced, she added.
Like other hospitals across the country, Danville Regional saw a 20 percent increase in uninsured patients in 2010, Saccocio said. Increased numbers to the hospital are also because of the improvement in quality of care.
Dr. Bhushan Pandya, president of DRMC medical staff executive committee, said today’s medicine comes as a package with accessing a primary care as the first step.
According to the 2011 County Health Rankings by the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Danville’s ratio of population to primary care providers is 782 to 1, compared to the national benchmark of 631 to 1. Virginia’s ratio is 806 to 1.
“Beyond that, there is a need for building up a number of specialties so that we can provide total care to the patient in our community,” Pandya said.
Because of the lack of primary care in the region, many specialists, like cardiologist Dr. Gary Miller, have also had to provide primary care to patients.
Miller hopes the residency program encourages more physicians to stay in the Danville area to help patients manage their health and chronic diseases like diabetes.
Pandya and the medical staff continually aim to improve care by providing more services and increasing expertise.
“They really have a reason to be proud of the physicians in this town,” Pandya said. “They have some of the most dedicated, hardworking doctors.”
Doctor’s Day
Danville Mayor Sherman Saunders proclaimed March 30 as “Doctor’s Day” in Danville on Wednesday to recognize the role local physicians play in addressing the region’s health-care needs.
Frank R. Campbell, chair of the DRMC board, said local doctors have been working with the board for the past year and a half to turn the hospital around and into one everyone could be proud of.
“We’ve got the best doctors in the world right here in Danville, and we want to give them the best hospital possible to work in and perform their craft,” Campbell said.
