EXCHANGE: Programs aim to keep best physicians in Rockford

ROCKFORD, Ill. (AP) - New Mercyhealth residency programs in Rockford that will train recent medical school graduates are getting high-fives from leaders of the medical community, who hope the programs entice top-notch physicians to practice here once their training is complete.

Mercyhealth said last week that it will start two residency programs in July 2019, one that will accept 13 first-year residents to train as internists and a second that will train 12 family medicine residents. Medical school seniors will interview in the fall for admission to the programs.

By 2021, the programs, which take three years to complete, will be training a total of 39 internal medicine residents and 36 family practice residents each year.

Additional residency programs, in cooperation with other health care providers, are possible within five years, said Dr. John Dorsey, vice president of physician services and chief medical officer of Mercyhealth in Rockford.

"It's an opportunity to increase access to health care for patients in hospitals and in clinics," Dorsey said.

It's also good for the local economy. "It will increase the presence of higher-earners who spend more money," Dorsey said.

Mercyhealth, which in January will open a new hospital near the junction of Riverside Boulevard and Interstate 90 and will continue to operate a hospital on Rockton Avenue, is one of three health systems present in Rockford.

The internal medicine residency will be housed at Mercyhealth Mulford. The family medicine residency will be based at the rebuilt Mercyhealth Alpine Medical Center in Loves Park, which will open to the public July 2. Residents train under the direction of experienced physicians.

The Mercyhealth residency programs will be the largest in Rockford. The University of Illinois College of Medicine Rockford's family medicine residency program, which dates to 1972, trains 25 resident physicians a year, most of whom wind up going to work for Swedish American, a division of UW Health.

Mercyhealth's internal medicine residency will be affiliated with the College of Medicine for "access to library services, research capacity and additional academic benefits," Dorsey said. He said the connection with the College of Medicine "will attract a higher-quality resident when they see we are affiliated with a university."

Dr. Alex Stagnaro-Green, dean of the College of Medicine, said the university affiliation is "good for Mercyhealth. ... It will enhance its academic stature."

Dorsey said Mercyhealth also is trying to establish a similar connection with the College of Medicine for the family medicine residency but hasn't yet in part because of the college's affiliation for that program with SwedishAmerican.

Dr. Michael Born, president and CEO of SwedishAmerican, said his take on Mercyhealth's plans is an "emphatic 'yes' to new residency programs in our city. ... This is job creation for positions needed in our community."

Born said the region and the nation need more family practitioners and internists, both of which are considered primary care physicians. By 2030, according to a study by the Association of American Medical Colleges, there could be a shortfall of between 14,800 and 49,300 primary care physicians as well as a shortage in non-primary care specialties of between 33,800 and 72,700 physicians.

Dr. Harneet Bath, vice president and chief medical officer of OSF HealthCare Saint Anthony Medical Center, said he expects Mercyhealth's residency programs will help lure resident physicians who'll want to stay here.

"It's not very easy recruiting to places like Rockford when we're so close to Chicago. Physicians get so many options," he said. When resident physicians work in a community, though, they come to recognize, "it's not a bad community to live in, and 'I can raise my family here.' "

Saint Anthony operates residency programs in podiatry and pharmacy that serve two residents each.

"This will make it easier for all of us to recruit to this community," Bath said.

A 2013 study by the Robert Graham Center for Policy Studies in Family Medicine and Primary Care found that nearly 60 percent of family physicians end up practicing within 100 miles of where they completed residency training.

Dr. Eric C. Trautmann, a family physician at SwedishAmerican, said "it's great for Rockford to have more training programs." He came here in 1988 through the residency program now operated by the College of Medicine. He said he chose Rockford because it was "halfway between Springfield and Kalamazoo." He is from Springfield and his wife is from Kalamazoo, Michigan.

"We tried to choose where we wanted to stay long term," said Trautmann, who reared three children here with his wife. "It's a lot easier to stay than go.

"Rockford is a great family medicine town," he said. "Family medicine is well-regarded."

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Source: Rockford Register Star, https://bit.ly/2MDzdXO

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Information from: Rockford Register Star, http://www.rrstar.com