K A I S E R P E R M A N E N T E S A N TA R O S A FA M I LY M E D I C I N E R E S I D E N C Y
Meeting the Need for Family Physicians Walt Mills, MD
Core faculty at the new Kaiser residency, clockwise from upper left: Dr. Walt Mills, Dr. Patricia Hiserote, Dr. C. Roger Turk, Dr. David Koida, Dr. Matt Joseph, Dr. Rachel Friedman, Dr. Cheryl Green, and Dr. Rob Nied. Photo by Duncan Garrett.
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hy start a family medicine residency at Kaiser Permanente Santa Rosa? The simple answer is that we need more family physicians in our community and beyond. In 2010, the Sonoma County Medical Association partnered with the Department of Health Services to conduct a comprehensive primary care Dr. Mills is the program director of the Kaiser Permanente Santa Rosa Family Medicine Residency.
Sonoma Medicine
workforce analysis. The results confirmed that our county is facing a crisis in primary care physicians, including family physicians, with an estimated need for an additional 100 to as many as 200 primary care physicians by the end of the decade. Physician retirement, an aging and changing patient demographic, increases in chronic disease, and practice patterns for new graduates combine to make the challenge of sustaining a primary care workforce significant. The impending implementa-
tion of the Affordable Care Act relies heavily on a robust foundation of adequate, well-trained primary care physicians. Within this context, the need for more family physicians is abundantly evident. Kaiser Permanente (KP) is unique in financing graduate medical education through our Community Benefit programs, rather than relying on federal or other funding. In addition to improving the health of our members, KP is committed to improving the health of Summer 2013 15