SCIPIO CENTER - Dr. Linda Simkin's Scipio office is full of plastic tubs, hugging her desk piled high with impending paperwork. The tubs are full of drug samples that she gives to patients to test new medications before they have to fork over co-pay dollars.
Many of her other patients at the Finger Lakes Family Medicine Clinic on Route 34 and Center Road - opened by Auburn Memorial Hospital almost a decade ago to serve a federally designated area without enough primary care physicians - don't have insurance at all, so they qualify for free drugs under drug company programs.
The clinic faces a client base without insurance or insurance that doesn't reimburse very well, Simkin said. She tries to get medications from other sources because of the expense of drugs.
Simkin is joined by registered nurse Sheree Mason and receptionist Debbie Church in meeting the health care needs of patients from Auburn, Genoa, Ledyard, Scipio, Springport and Venice - even patients from Cato, Port Byron and Seneca County. The clinic opened in September 1996.
The three women work heartily but are often “swamped,” Simkin said, to serve a rural patient base that includes a high proportion of Medicaid patients or Family Health Plus patients, a state health insurance program for people with incomes too high to qualify for Medicaid. Simkin invariably stays later at the clinic than she is contractually required to.
The clinic sees, on average, 75 patients a week. It can accept many methods of payments and has the feel of an old-fashioned, single doctor's practice, said Church, the clinic's office manager and “jack of all trades.”
While the clinic does serve Medicaid patients, any referrals they must make to specialized doctors requires sending patients to Camillus, Ithaca or Syracuse.
The clinic is popular for its annual flu shot clinic. It's also popular for its intimate, low-key atmosphere, Simkin said.
“Some people prefer going to a small place where there are just not as many people around,” she said.
Simkin, herself, is a main attraction for patients, especially because she is able to spend 15 to 30 minutes with most patients, Church said.
“We've watched kids from infancy grow up,” she said.
The small clinic has four exam rooms, one a pediatric room with baby scales and a diminutive exam table. It has no computer besides a Department of Health computer designated for a childhood immunization registry. It's the fax machine and the telephone that link the clinic to laboratory results from the hospital.
“We're not formal, that's for sure. It's easy access for people,” Simkin said.
Attracting dedicated health professionals like Church, Mason and Simkin remains a challenge across the rural parts of the state. In Cayuga County alone, Cato, Conquest, Genoa, Ledyard, Ira, Scipio, Springport and Venice are considered part of primary care federal heath professional shortage areas.
Fifteen of the top 30 fastest growing occupations between 2002 and 2012 are expected to be health occupations, but challenges remain - particularly for rural areas - because shortages of health workers persist for many occupations, according to the University of Albany's School of Public Health's Center for Health Workforce Studies.
The central New York region has gained 1,899 health care jobs - a 6.2 percent gain - between 2000 and 2004.
Simkin is one doctor who came back to her rural roots. The petite, unassuming woman grew up in Poplar Ridge.
She graduated from medical school in 1970 and returned to the area in 1977. She worked for 21 years in AMH's emergency room before taking the job at the Scipio Center clinic. The 61-year-old says she will stay at the clinic until she retires.
She is hopeful younger doctors will step up to take her place.
“This is a beautiful area,” Simkin said. “Some people are attracted to this area. It depends upon what their values are.”
The clinic faces a client base without insurance or insurance that doesn't reimburse very well, Simkin said. She tries to get medications from other sources because of the expense of drugs.
Simkin is joined by registered nurse Sheree Mason and receptionist Debbie Church in meeting the health care needs of patients from Auburn, Genoa, Ledyard, Scipio, Springport and Venice - even patients from Cato, Port Byron and Seneca County. The clinic opened in September 1996.
The three women work heartily but are often “swamped,” Simkin said, to serve a rural patient base that includes a high proportion of Medicaid patients or Family Health Plus patients, a state health insurance program for people with incomes too high to qualify for Medicaid. Simkin invariably stays later at the clinic than she is contractually required to.
The clinic sees, on average, 75 patients a week. It can accept many methods of payments and has the feel of an old-fashioned, single doctor's practice, said Church, the clinic's office manager and “jack of all trades.”
While the clinic does serve Medicaid patients, any referrals they must make to specialized doctors requires sending patients to Camillus, Ithaca or Syracuse.
The clinic is popular for its annual flu shot clinic. It's also popular for its intimate, low-key atmosphere, Simkin said.
“Some people prefer going to a small place where there are just not as many people around,” she said.
Simkin, herself, is a main attraction for patients, especially because she is able to spend 15 to 30 minutes with most patients, Church said.
“We've watched kids from infancy grow up,” she said.
The small clinic has four exam rooms, one a pediatric room with baby scales and a diminutive exam table. It has no computer besides a Department of Health computer designated for a childhood immunization registry. It's the fax machine and the telephone that link the clinic to laboratory results from the hospital.
“We're not formal, that's for sure. It's easy access for people,” Simkin said.
Attracting dedicated health professionals like Church, Mason and Simkin remains a challenge across the rural parts of the state. In Cayuga County alone, Cato, Conquest, Genoa, Ledyard, Ira, Scipio, Springport and Venice are considered part of primary care federal heath professional shortage areas.
Fifteen of the top 30 fastest growing occupations between 2002 and 2012 are expected to be health occupations, but challenges remain - particularly for rural areas - because shortages of health workers persist for many occupations, according to the University of Albany's School of Public Health's Center for Health Workforce Studies.
The central New York region has gained 1,899 health care jobs - a 6.2 percent gain - between 2000 and 2004.
Simkin is one doctor who came back to her rural roots. The petite, unassuming woman grew up in Poplar Ridge.
She graduated from medical school in 1970 and returned to the area in 1977. She worked for 21 years in AMH's emergency room before taking the job at the Scipio Center clinic. The 61-year-old says she will stay at the clinic until she retires.
She is hopeful younger doctors will step up to take her place.
“This is a beautiful area,” Simkin said. “Some people are attracted to this area. It depends upon what their values are.”