FIR S T, I WA N TED to share how much I enjoy feedback on
these editorials. When people take time to agree or disagree, it
improves both of our thinking. My perspective comes from my
experience. Thank you for sharing your experiences!
This column is on regional reach.
Living in the Adirondacks, I often receive phone calls from
families in crisis — generally at night or on weekends. Care is
limited to primary care in many rural areas, with no urgent care
and little access to specialty care. "Where should I go?" is the
most common question I hear.
Resident population has grown in the Adirondacks and many
rural communities post-COVID, and summer and seasonal
tourism has also swelled throughout the region. The same thing
has happened in every tourist community around us.
When I get calls about where to go for care, I encourage them to
call their primary care physician wherever they are and request
a telemedicine consult. However, people often go to the local
ambulance center, and the staff there may not be available if they
are responding to a call. I have developed a shared list of urgent care
centers in the region from Utica to Rome to Syracuse, and I also
refer people to LivingADK (livingadk.org), an organization that
advocates for the region and maintains a list of regional resources.
Families travel routinely from throughout the ADK Park to
Utica, Rome and Syracuse for orthopedic care, mental health
care, cardiac care, emergency care and testing. They share with
me the gaps they find and the difficulty they have in figuring out
where to go. Sometimes they just pack up in the summer and
return to their home communities hours away when they can't
figure out where and how to access care.
So my questions to your practice are these: Are you a local
or regional resource? Do you offer screening clinics in rural
communities? How do patients in rural communities, particularly
in the summer, know you are there? Does your marketing reflect
your regional presence?
Conversely, I ask community leaders about how rural com-
munities educate their residents and plan information around
access to care for summer residents and tourists. Old Forge
estimates it can go from 2,000 to 20,000 summer residents and
tourists on a busy weekend. When there is an injury, the closest
care is one to two hours away by car.
The landscape in health care is changing, and patients are
traveling further to access specialty care. Many large centers
from the Mayo Clinic to Cleveland Clinic are offering telemedicine
and access in ways that minimize travel.
What are the opportunities available through technology to
expand your regional reach? How do regional screening clinics
open up access for patients? Finally, are there innovative solutions
for accessing care in tourist communities where an urgent care
center could only be successful in peak season?
Think about reaching out to the regional organizations who
provide info to summer visitors and new residents. I know
LivingADK would love to hear from others not included in
their database.
Thanks for all you do in serving these communities.
n
Kathryn Ruscitto, Advisor, can be reached at linkedin.com/ln/
kathrynruscitto or at krusct@gmail.com.
Further Reading
1. Emerging Stronger From the Crisis: W hat's Next
for Regional Providers? (mckinsey.com/industries/
healthcare-systems-and-services/our-insights/emerging-stronger-
from-the-crisis-whats-next-for-regional-providers)
2. How Standing Up Regional Markets Is Improving Access to Health
Care ( health.mil/News/Articles/2022/01/11/How-Standing-Up-
Regional-Markets-is-Improving-Access-to-Health-Care)
3. Healthcare Access in Rural Communities (ruralhealthinfo.org/
topics/healthcare-access)
Regional
Reach
BY K ATHRYN RUSCITTO
M D N E W S . C O M /// M D N E W S C E N T R A L N E W Y O R K
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