I think it was among our first conversations after arriving here, during a visit to a credit union to open an account, that we became a little concerned. A very nice woman told us it can be a challenge to find a doctor in these parts. She said that in Grays Harbor County, one does not just call and make a new patient appointment. Not gonna happen.

Here’s the drill. First you have to find someone taking new patients. That’s a challenge because it seems there is a shortage of primary care providers. And of course they don’t all take Medicare. Medicare is such a great help to us old folks, but because its reimbursement rate is relatively low compared to private insurance, many doctors just flat out don’t want anything to do with it. So grateful to those who do! Thank you!

There’s a certain irony in all this. At my job with a foundation in Oregon, I was a tireless advocate for funding rural health care. One year I spent several months researching and preparing a report on the favorable effects of grants we had made to rural health clinics in the remote reaches of the state, and published it in our annual report that year. Who knew I would end up in an area that could use some tireless funding advocacy?!

But even when you find a doctor with openings who takes Medicare here, you first have to fill out an application. Like a screening tool. We don’t really know exactly what they are screening for. Bad health history? Credit check? Doctor shopping for opiod prescriptions? Something else? If you pass this step, then they schedule an interview, which I guess serves as the second screening phase. If you pass the interview, you can make a new patient appointment.

So we went through all that and after a few months, I had a doctor. More than 30 miles from home, but then pretty much everything is. Big relief!! Especially since the pain in my hip had become so bad I could hardly walk, and it turned out I needed hip replacement surgery pronto (the doctor’s referral was key to getting it addressed). But after a very few months had gone by, I got a letter that my doctor was leaving the area. NOOOOOOO!!!!!! Say it isn’t so!!!!!

I guess I should have seen that coming when I asked him, at my first visit, how he liked living and practicing here and after a slightly too long period of silence he said, “It has its moments.”

Okay, so apparently the moments had passed. We heard a replacement was coming, but that he had a temporary contract and would only be here for six months. And we would be right back where we started. Bummer. I thought it wise to find a more long term solution. That meant trying to find someone else in the 30+ mile town, or looking in the 50+ mile away town with a medical clinic. Or the larger 80+ mile away town with more options.

I heard a very positive report about a primary care doctor with 20 years experience in the 30 mile town a friend had just seen, so I called her office to see if she was taking new patients. “Yes, she is,” I was happy to hear, and that she takes Medicare, but I would need to come in and fill out the application in person. Two days later I arrived at the office. The parking lot was empty and the building looked completely dark and closed, but I figured I had driven all this way, I should actually try the door. Yes, it opened, and I could see a young woman behind a boxed in counter so I headed there. I explained why I was there, and as she handed me the “screening tool” she said the doctor was actually not taking new patients, but a nurse practitioner with one year’s experience was and I could apply to see her. Because it felt kinda like a bait and switch deal, it didn’t really sit right with me. I’m fine with seeing a nurse practitioner but the one year experience hung me up. If there’s one thing growing old teaches you, it’s that there is tremendous value in experience. Especially when it comes to treating health issues that take some sophisticated analysis and fine tuning. Maybe I’m wrong, but I decided this may not be my best option and didn’t fill out the form.

When I got home I finished the application for the 50+ mile clinic and will put it in the mail my next trip to the post office. See, we don’t get mail delivery here but have to rent a PO box and go there to pick up and turn in our mail. Which doesn’t happen every day.

So I don’t have a doctor. And don’t know if and when I’ll find one.

This is not the inner city living we left, that’s for sure. But the ocean. The rainforests. The sky. The oh-so-fresh air. I’m hoping breathing it will keep me healthy enough to survive until I actually find a doctor.

I’ll keep you posted.