By the time Dr. Colin Findlay finished an internal medicine residency at Eastern Virginia Medical School in 2004, he knew he wanted to stay nearby to practice.
Two decades later, Findlay, a specialist in hospital medicine, remains in Hampton Roads as associate chief medical officer at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital. The Washington, D.C., native also has recruited dozens of other physicians to the region.
“Hampton Roads can sometimes fly under people’s radars as a place to work, but most everyone who comes in loves it,” Findlay said. “I found a great quality of life and a strong medical community here. It just got its claws into me.”
That’s the type of story Sentara Health hopes to tell more often by funding about 160 new local residencies — required specialty training programs after medical school — over the next six years, including at hospitals in Norfolk, Hampton and Williamsburg. Physicians typically complete such programs in three to five years.
The goal is to help offset a growing physician shortage that is already causing alarming delays in patient care. Historically, about a third of graduates from local residencies opt to establish their practice in surrounding communities, according to Sentara’s data.
Currently, Sentara funds 240 residency positions, most at Norfolk General. Plans are to expand that total to 400 by increasing in-demand cardiology, anesthesiology and neurology slots at the Norfolk hospital and establishing new programs at Sentara CarePlex Hospital in Hampton, Sentara Williamsburg Regional Medical Center and two hospitals in Woodbridge and Elizabeth City, North Carolina.
Although Sentara is still discussing the number of positions and types of specialties for Hampton and Williamsburg, primary care is one likely focus, according to Dr. Michael Hooper, vice president and chief academic officer at Norfolk General. One residency program may concentrate on Rural Track Primary Care, which prepares doctors to work in underserved areas.
“Primary care is the biggest shortage we see in Virginia and Hampton Roads by a large margin,” Hooper said. “If we can train more providers here, we feel strongly that we’re much more likely to retain them and provide the care people need.”
The Association of American Medical Colleges projects a nationwide shortage of up to 86,000 physicians by 2036, almost half of that in primary care. The country’s aging population and a rising wave of physician retirements have only exacerbated the problem; about 32% of Virginia doctors are older than 55, AAMC statistics show.
Sentara is partnering on the residency expansion with the newly formed Macon & Joan Brock Virginia Health Sciences at Old Dominion University, the result of EVMS’ recent integration with ODU. Physicians at the academic center and in hospital- and community-based practices will collaborate on training residents.
Estimated per-resident cost is $150,000 a year for salaries, benefits and administrative and infrastructure needs, Hooper said. Nationwide, most of the positions are funded by Medicare and other federal programs, with additional support from private sources such as health systems, hospitals and universities.
Over the next three to four years, Sentara hopes to receive approval for new residencies from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, a nonprofit that evaluates programs throughout the United States, as well as boost physician recruitment initiatives.
To Findlay, the effort is an important extension of EVMS’ founding mission to strengthen the local medical community. He spent eight years at EVMS, including medical school, a three-year residency and a year as chief resident; his wife was a pediatric resident there.
And for now, the family has no plans to move.
“Definitely not before I retire from practice,” he said. “It’s been a great choice for me.”
Alison Johnson, ajohnsondp@yahoo.com
