Agree that having a good family md or internist is important, especially as we age. That is the person to do referrals and also do pre-surgical checks & approvals. We had a surprise when H’s internist suddenly stopped seeing patients & had to scramble to get him a new one amidst his multiple medical procedures & treatment.
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Absolutely. You are welcome – but finding my place is actually tricky. Uber and Lyft regularly end up on the other side of a horse farm adjacent to our property – probably about half a mile if you walk across the horse farm or 1.25 miles of driving.
I am figuring out the tweaks to get the taste of the espressor to my liking. Not done, but finer grind, more pre-brewing etc.
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In some places, there are real shortages of primary care providers as the compensation is higher for specialties. We joined a concierge practice, which gives us immediate access, and is expensive and maybe not as good as we had hoped. ShawD is an NP in an organization that provides primary care on a concierge-lite basis (small annual fee, you get a provider but also 24/7 telehealth, nice clinics and appointments same day or next day). The small fee is probably worth it for the access.
When we were up in Quebec, we learned that the shortage of primary care providers there was relatively extreme and that people just could not get a PCP. I don’t know if the same is true in other parts of Canada or just Quebec.
We called around trying to find H a primary internist. We were given an initial appointment over a year from the date of the call as 1st available. Fortunately, my internist had her office call back, as they had just hired an internist and she was accepting new patients so we got an appt for H and also D right away—H to be seen quickly and D when she’s here in December as she may be moving back to Honolulu.
The entire state of Massachusetts has a huge primary care shortage. We moved here in 2023 and there were literally no PCPs available. Brigham Women’s (the biggest health provider in town) has not hade any available PCPs for new patients for over 2 years. My husband and I signed up with a terrible local practice just to have somebody make referrals for required specialists. Our insurance required initial referrals. My husband has already switched to another PCP and I plan to do the same once I reach Medicare age in December.
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On a lighter note, regarding non-financial investments in staying health, methinks everybody needs a primary fitness cheerleader. For me, it’s a big team of people on the various CC nutrition and fitness threads.
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Our relative’s PCP saga happens to be in MA (Cape Cod). But based on a discussion today at my book club, there is also PCP shortage in Colorado. Or perhaps everywhere. I don’t want to harp on it in this thread… just a reminder to new retirees - if when you were working you were too busy to find a new PCP (if say the old one retired, like happened to us), now’s a good time to do it.
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I was looking forward to a more “normal” retirement this fall, so I tried to sign up for some courses through our local university’s lifelong learning program. Class that I was most interested in allowed for ten students total, so I am waitlisted there and they are “trying” to find a room to offer another section. Signed up for a gardening class that was just cancelled due to low enrollment. I believe I am signed up for another class that I am not at all interested in, but I’ll give it a try as I just need something to do.
We have a raised patio with a flight of steps and somehow a baby bunny made his way up the stairs…but couldn’t figure out how to get down. I think he thought hiding under the pizza oven was a good plan. I didn’t want to scare the poor thing to death, so H rigged up a ramp down the steps for the bunny. Happily he made his way down. Big day here!
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My “primary” doctor I’ve only seen once, about 6-7 years ago!
Now I just make an appointment with whomever is first available in the hospital system, and frequently that is 2-5 months out. It’s quite frustrating.
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I’m glad our internists gave APRNs to help supplement. They’ve been able to see H more urgently, before we could get H an appointment survive his internist. He needed to be seen so he could get cleared for his medical procedure(s). He also needed to be seen because his blood pressure was scary high. The APRN helped us with both issues and had a much less packed schedule than the doctor.
Big celebration for DH’s retirement from his current job today!
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Congrats to “Mrjym”
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That’s a milestone for sure. Enjoy!
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I have an amazing PCP who lists geriatric care as a specialty. I’ve been with her long before I qualified for that, but here we are! She hasn’t been accepting new clients for quite some time. She books way out, but has a great team of NPs. Last year they told me if she hadn’t seen me personally in several years I would be dropped, so I made sure to see her.
H’s great PCP retired on him. I’ve had several dentists retire on me.
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My dentist just retired on me. It’s tough getting old & losing long time professional caregivers!
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I say that at this time in our lives we want doctors that was much younger than us!
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My specialists are young - as my PCP says, they’re comfortable with technology and don’t hesitate to use it.
My dentist is different … I was terrified of dentists as a child, so when I found someone I liked, I stuck with her. I’ve been with my hygienist since 1983, and I am so glad that she isn’t quite ready to retire. She plans to stay (for now) with the young dentist who took over the practice, so I’m staying put with the new, young dentist.
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My dentist is retiring and training her S to step in. He’s learning and slower than her but a nice guy.
It was tough when our CPa retired—that was hard but fortunately his relative recommended a successor who has been great and has a firm of younger CPAs he’s training.
When H’s internist retired it was tough age the. his replacement left in the middle of the month with no notice so we had to scramble to find H a he’s internist, whom fortunately he likes.
I’ve had 2 lung docs retire in me but fortunately I really like the protégée of my most recent lung doc—she and I get along great. My local lung doc is getting older, but recently hired another lung doc and an aprn to help him.
It’s so tough getting used to new providers!
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My husband can’t retire yet but does have more free time. Today we went to a tourist area of our town and sat outside and had lunch. It was fun people watching and we enjoyed the sunshine. We have had a foggy summer so the sunshine felt good. We next went to the marina and walked and looked at boats and spent a little while relaxing on our small boat. Next week we will go camping in our trailer up the coast from us.
I have had several primary doctors change the focus of their practices. Over the last year I’ve tried two different younger internists at two different large medical systems. I liked them both and will have to decide what one I’ll continue with. I recently started going to a younger dermatology group and while it’s not as personable as my old provider I feel they are good and not going anywhere. I’m afraid my dentist will retire in the next few years. I’ve gone to him for over 30 years. When my kids were growing up we had friends who were doctors and it was easy to make a call and get into someone who they recommended. Now most of them have retired.
Same goes for estate attorneys and accountants. Our long time business accountant is retiring.
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I keep wondering whether we should add a geriatrician to our medical teams. H is 83 and I am 68. The geriatrician who treated my mom & dad is a different hospital from the one where my internist is, so maybe I will ask my internist about whether I should add a geriatrician and whom she’d recommend. It can be helpful if all the providers are at the same medical system, but both systems use Epic and can view one another’s records.
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