Shasta County Primary Care Health Crisis: Part 1
Written by Chriss W. Street
With Shasta County’s ratio of 1 primary care doctor for every 1,320 residents being lower than state and national averages, residents have much higher rates of serious illnesses and pay substantially higher health insurance premiums and co-paycosts.
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine found that:
• U.S. adults that regularly see a primary care physician have 33% lower health care costs and 19% lower odds of dying prematurely than those who only see a specialist.
• Primary care doctors detect problems early, reducing preventable emergency room visits and hospitalizations.
• Primary care doctors help manage chronic conditions like diabetes, asthma, or high blood pressure.
Given that every $1 increase in primary care spending produces about $13 in savings, the U.S. could save $67 billion each yearif everyone used a primary care provider.
But there is a growing shortage of primary care doctors because medical schools are rated on their highest level of research and make more money by training specialists. As a result, there are fewer graduating doctors going into primary care medicine.
This has caused existing primary care doctors to burn out from seeing more patients every day, and suffering greater administrative burden.
For predominantly rural communities like Shasta County, the problem is getting worse. There are too few trainees entering and staying in the primary care doctor profession.
As of January 2024, there were only about 137 primary care doctors practicing in Shasta County. But about one third were either not directly involved in patient care or were over 60 and only practicing part time.
The U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) has identified eight clinics in Shasta County that are facing shortages of primary healthcare professionals, with a ratio of one practitioner for every 3,500 individuals in the population they serve.
These clinics, which include the Hill Country Health and Wellness Center, Shasta Community Health Center, Shingletown Medical Center, Pit River Health Services, Central Valley Health Care, Churn Creek Healthcare, Redding Rancheria Indian Health Clinic, and Lassen Medical Clinic-Cottonwood, are stepping up to fill the healthcare gap.
Out of the 20 predominately rural census tracks within Shasta County, 12 of them are grappling with challenges and have been officially designated as “health professional shortage” areas by the HRSA, as highlighted in blue on the map shown.
Shasta County needs at least another 150 primary care doctorsright now. Given that the county is also the hub for 17 Northern California counties, the current primary care doctor need for the region is closer to 300.
Dr. Paul Dhunuka was recently elected to the Redding City Council on a platform of creating a new medical school that would train and graduate about 50 new primary care doctors each year.
The Mountain Top Times is running a 7 part series of investigative reports regarding the primary care doctor shortage in Shasta County and Northern California. Please comment below is you have information that can add insight to our reporting.
Excellent article, especially informative if you are a Shasta county resident. I am. Hill country has run out of medical doctors, so has shasta community. I know because I've been looking for a general physician for our care. Looking through what is medical in Redding, most aren't taking new patients, nor medicare, nor partnership, and those that do aren't medical doctors (MD). There are plenty of DOs who are replacing the positions of MDs.