New DRA program to supply doctors

SIKESTON - Missouri Delta Medical Center officials are hopeful a new Delta Regional Authority program will deliver on its promise to supply the area with more doctors.

With the start up of the Delta Regional Authority's Physician J-1 Visa Waiver Program, better and greater access to quality healthcare received a "shot in the arm," according to federal DRA co-chairman Pete Johnson's recent press release. The press release predicts more physicians will be coming to the Delta Region as a result of the waivers.

"Help is on the way and more people will have better access to affordable healthcare because of this new program," Johnson said. "As a result we will have better healthcare outcomes which, in turn, mean healthier people."

John Mobley, senior vice president for MDMC, said waivers issued by the state have been used by the hospital in the past, but there are a limited number available. "Each year the state grants waivers to 30 different physicians in underserved areas," he said.

Being a new federal program, the hospital has not yet applied for any DRA waivers, Mobley said, "but I think its going to be an asset to us."

Mobley said that 30 state waivers sounds like a lot until you consider the number of underserved areas competing for them. "We've had some success and we've had some denials," he recalled. Now it appears, however, that if a state waiver is denied, "we have another resource."

Unlike the state program, there is no "cap" on the number of recommendations DRA can make each year.

Currently foreign medical graduates trained in the U.S. as physicians are required by the U.S. State Department to return to their native land for two years after completing their training.

Through the DRA program, the federal co-chairman can recommend a "waiver" of that requirement if the physician agrees to serve in a medically-underserved area of the DRA region for three years. Physicians who have completed a residency in family practice, general pediatrics, obstetrics or internal medicine are eligible.

After three years, doctors may opt to return to their home countries or apply for permanent residence or other visa status.

Additionally, the agreement requires the doctors to provide primary care service for 40 hours per week and must treat all categories of patients including Medicare, Medicaid and indigent patients.

"The DRA program is designed to help give special attention to the processes required in bringing doctors to the healthcare facilities that many medically underserved communities depend upon for quality primary care," Johnson said. He predicted the program's outcome will include reductions in health care costs and anguish from diseases as well as improved efforts to change unhealthy lifestyles.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture was one of the leading government agencies that processed waivers from 1993 to 2002, resulting in around 3,000 placements in the country.

DRA is the first government agency to step in and fill the void left by the USDA, and Johnson is optimistic that the DRA's involvement will help speed the process and increase the chances of applications being approved.

Economic benefits are also likely, according to DRA officials, as every physician working in the area creates job openings for support staff jobs such as nurses and lab technicians.

Physicians granted waivers to practice medicine through the program only do so in communities where their American counterparts have chosen not to serve: The DRA requires the sponsoring facility to advertise for an American physician for six months and show evidence of attempts to recruit an American doctor.

Established by Congress in December of 2000 to channel economic aid and guidance to the Mississippi Delta region, the DRA is a federal partnership with eight states: Missouri, Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Mississippi, Kentucky, Louisiana and Tennessee.