Shortage of physicians being felt in Dublin

Nationwide Children’s Hospital’s Dublin Urgent Care closed its doors and they will remain closed until enough physicians can be recruited to adequately staff the center, officials said.

The Dublin site is one of seven Nationwide Children’s urgent care sites in central Ohio — all of which face staffing shortages, said spokeswoman Gina Bericchia.

She said it likely will be several months before the Dublin location reopens.

“When facing any shortage, we ramp up our recruiting efforts to expeditiously fill any vacancies,” said Bericchia in an email.

Nationwide Children’s urgent care centers see patients suffering from things such as allergic reactions, minor burns and cuts, fevers, rashes, sore throats or vomiting and diarrhea.

They’re not the only centers facing a physician shortage, said John Palmer, spokesman for the Ohio Hospital Association. Primary care providers and emergency departments also recruit from the same insufficient pool, he said.

“This shortage has significant repercussions for health,” Palmer said. “It’s imperative as an industry and as a community that it’s addressed.”

There could be a nationwide shortage of as many as 94,700 physicians by 2025, according to a recent analysis by the Association of American Medical Colleges. The trend is linked to the aging population and because medical students increasingly are opting for lucrative specialties over general practice.

Palmer said the Ohio Hospital Association has not surveyed the network about the shortage. “But our members have shared with us (a need for) solutions,” he said.

Nationwide Children’s patients still have limited access to laboratory, radiology and ultrasound services at the Dublin urgent care site.

The hospital is directing anyone else to the two closest centers in Hilliard and Marysville.

Nationwide Children’s has expanded its urgent care services the past 20 years.

For now, the hospital does not plan to close any of the other central Ohio urgent care sites. “That should take care of it for now,” Bericchia said.