A bill making its way through the state legislature aims to help recruit doctors to Colorado, specifically to work in under-served areas. Today concludes a three-part series from KCFR Health Reporter Eric Whitney that takes a look at doctors in Colorado, efforts to recruit them, and the effects felt by residents needing primary care.
Immigrants to the United States are often said to be willing to take jobs Americans don't want. In Colorado, one of those jobs is family doctor. Clinics all over the state routinely spend a year or more recruiting just one doctor. Six counties have no full-time physicians. At the same time, doctors trained overseas are motivated to fill those positions, because they get federal visa requirements waived. But, Colorado is turning away most of those doctors. KCFR Health Reporter Eric Whitney looks at a new state bill that aims to more than triple the number of foreign physicians the state licenses each year.