Serving Harris, Galveston, Brazoria and Fort Bend Counties
HOUSTON
August Issue 2014
Inside This Issue
REPORT: OVER 90% OF NEW PHYSICIAN JOBS FEATURE EMPLOYMENT BY HOSPITALS OR OTHER FACILITIES By Phillip Miller, Vice President of Communications Merritt Hawkins
Texas A&M forges path for rapid vaccine delivery See pg.8
INDEX Legal Health..................pg.3 Mental Health...............pg.4 New Technology...........pg.6 Money Matters..............pg.7 Healthy Heart................pg.9 The Framework............pg.16
Less Than 10% Feature Private Practice Settings Over 90% of new physician job openings feature employment by hospitals, medical groups, community health centers or other healthcare facilities, according to a new report, March 31, 2014. Of these assignments, signaling the continued decline of the great majority (over 90%) featured physician private practice. practices in which newly recruited Prepared by Merritt Hawkins, the physicians will be employed, either by nation’s leading physician search firm hospitals, medical groups, community and a company of AMN Healthcare health centers, academic medical centers (NYSE: AHS), the report tracks or other facilities. Less than 10% of the 3,158 physician and advanced the recruiting assignments featured practitioner recruiting assignments the independent practice settings, such as firm conducted from April 1, 2013 to partnerships, concierge practices or solo
practice settings, down from over 45% in 2004. “The employed model is almost the only choice for physicians seeking practice opportunities today,” said Travis Singleton, senior vice president of Merritt Hawkins. “However, it also is the first choice for most physicians. see Employment by Hospitals page 20
RISK OF EBOLA AND THE EBOLA VIRUS GAINING A FOOTHOLD IN TEXAS IS EXTREMELY LOW Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics call on congress to stop cuts to public health funding See pg. 17
By Peter J. Hotez, M.D., Ph.D.
Sierra Leone’s president declared a state of emergency over the largest outbreak of the Ebola virus in history. To date, Ebola has infected more than 1,200 people in three West African countries and killed close to 700 of them. The outbreak received extra media attention when two Americans became infected and a Liberian-born and its implications. United States citizen died. The risk of Ebola and the Ebola virus gaining a foothold in Texas is extremely low, according to Dr. Peter Hotez, the fellow in disease and poverty at Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy. Hotez is available to comment on the outbreak
"One of the reasons this disease has spread through Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia is that they are still in the postconflict stage with severely depleted health systems and health care infrastructures," Hotez said. "In contrast, we are fortunate see Ebola Virus page 20
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