There is a shortage of doctors in Natchez and plaintiff lawyers are not getting blamed for it. The Sunday Natchez Democrat contained a story about the physician shortage in Natchez, which also exists in other areas of Mississippi.
The city has only one general surgeon, one urologist and no neurologists.
Natchez Regional’s Vice-President of Medical Affairs Dr. Kenneth Stubbs said many new doctors are less attracted to private practice and want to be part of a large hospital group.
They are looking for guarantees in areas like time spent on-call, salary and patient load.
“And we can’t make a lot of those guarantees,” Stubbs said. “It’s not as easy as saying ‘we need doctors’, we need the right doctors.”
And in Stubbs’ 27-year practice here in Natchez, he has seen doctors come and go.
Stubbs said when he started practice in the early 1980s there were more than 80 doctors practicing in the area, now there are approximately 40.
It’s difficult to fault doctors for liking the model of a big practice group in a city like Jackson. With a large practice group, there are more doctors to share overhead and being on-call nights and weekends. But its a shame that a neat city like Natchez, which has as much charm as Oxford without the gridlock, has trouble attracting physicians.