Connections: What’s Up, Doc?
Trying to determine if the East End is medically underserved isn’t very hard to do, but it might have been foolish to try to answer the question the day after a crowded holiday weekend.
On Tuesday, as the storm of traffic and crowds receded to the west, I was fortunate to reach Robert Chaloner, the chief executive officer of Southampton Hospital, who explained why and how most of the primary care physicians and some of the specialists here now function under the umbrella of the Meeting House Lane Medical Practice, which is associated with the hospital.
“I can tell you we are constantly trying to recruit more people to the community,” he said.
Mr. Chaloner explained that Southampton Hospital has a residency program through which several new doctors have been brought here, including one of the two at Wainscott Walk-In. “Unfortunately, a lot of young doctors don’t generally locate in our community because the cost of setting up a practice is so high,” Mr. Chaloner said. That’s one reason why the Meeting House Medical Practice steps in. It carries administrative burdens and requires that doctors associated with it are enrolled with the common insurance providers. He said doctors also were asked to see everyone regardless of ability to pay.
Admitting that needed care had been difficult to meet over the weekend, Mr. Chaloner said the physicians associated with Meeting House got through it. “It can get pretty hectic out here. I agree with you.”
Mr. Chaloner didn’t say the South Fork was medically underserved during the long weekend, but I think it is fair for me to do so.
That may sound strange to folks from away, who might well assume that because the East End is a summer playground for the rich it is well served in everything anyone might possibly need. But seeing a doctor on a holiday weekend? Not so simple.
Except for a few independent physicians, most of whom are associated with the East Hampton Healthcare Foundation and see patients by appointment, people who sought less-than-emergency care over the weekend had to crowd into the walk-in clinics -— but neither the Montauk Medical Center nor the Wainscott Walk-In had weekend hours. By Tuesday, they reported, they were totally inundated. (East Hampton Urgent Care was open on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, but a figure on how many patients were treated was not immediately available.)
When Wainscott Walk-In opened at 8:30 Tuesday morning, there were already 15 would-be patients waiting outdoors. I know because I was number four. Wainscott Walk-In tries to soften the blow by telling patients approximately how long their wait will be and allowing them to leave the building and return at an approximate time. But more patients continued to flow in until about 10:30, by which time the doctors there were up to their ears in work. I trust that anyone who had to wait for the next day would be first in line.
Meanwhile, it was reported that our local emergency medical technicians rose to the challenge of a wild Memorial Day weekend. The East Hampton Ambulance Association had 16 calls on Sunday alone. Do I need to remind anyone that the ambulance crews are almost entirely volunteer? If you know any of them, please say thank you.