Doctor is retiring (Dallas, Bedford, Hurst: insurance, schools, universities)

[loves2read]

My PCP—personal care physician—new name for family doctor—is retiring
We—husband and I—have been patients of his since the early 90s—close to 30 years
He used to own the practice w/other doctors—some dropped out—new ones came in
Then they sold the practice to Texas Health Resources which has lot of family practice clinics in Tarrant county
Not sure about Dallas—

I have seen one of the remaining doctors a few time, another one just once.and the newest dr I have not seen at all (his MD is from Ross Med school which is in the Bahamas)..some other times when I really needed a visit I saw a NP or PA there but I don’t know if I really think the in place staff is that great...
Plus we found out about this after an appointment I made with this doctor on the on-line website’s calendar was just dropped—w/o explanation—just not there when I looked yesterday—it was supposed to be for today—
No letter so far to any of his patients announcing he is retiring (if that is what it is) so people w/recurring issues could maybe schedule an appointment before he was gone...
My husband has diabetes type II and high blood pressure that is more serious than mine—he managed to get an appointment for April 1–but only because we found out about this yesterday...

But I am 70–spend almost half the year in FL where I don’t have a FP doctor either
Though I am overweight I don’t really have other chronic issues except my BP is little high—
Take low dose of BP med that is one of the cheapest RX
But no diabetes, no heart problems, no problem really with any body system at this time
So I know how lucky I am...
Have Medicare A/B and supplemental F plan so paying for top level coverage

Would it make sense to find a different practice taking new patients on Medicare?
To “jump ship” so to speak and look for doctor with more specialty in geriatrics maybe since I certainly won’t get younger?

It is not like we really know any of the personnel at this particular clinic
But trying to find another one just seems like a hard slog...

Our son has used a doctor in different practice and that doctor was very good in the issues our son has had
And from what our son says he is thorough, listens well and seems to have good many seniors as patients
So that is one option...

Just wondered if anyone else has had this experience

[tcualum]

Where do you live?

[loves2read]

Hurst north by 26 and Precinct Line
Doctor is off 121 just north of Harwood but it is being relocated to the HEB Hospital area next month

[Threestep2]

A physician's name dropped of a company website and that throws you into a frenzy? An MD went to med school where? The Bahamas!
Loose some weight and your blood pressure will go down.
As your son recommended his physician - try to get on if he takes new patients.

[lonestar2007]

So, why not try out your son's doctor? Seems to be a good recommendation. I can see wanting more options in case you happen to not care for him though, so maybe someone in your area can help out with that.

You can also look up doctors who specialize in family practice, see what insurance they accept, check them out on Healthgrades, Vitals, Yelp etc.

[TeamLynn]

I highly recommend Dr. Hanna in Bedford. I think most practices now are tough to manage and have appointment failures. I know a lot of docs who have dropped out because they don't want to see 70 patients a day as is the standard for some practices. Dr. Hanna is my 87 year old mom's doc. I have gone to some appts with her. I felt like he listens to her (and she talks alot). He does have PAs but as far as I know they give you the option when you make the appt. I'm sure stuff comes up, but I have generally been happy with the service, the knowledge, and the care. I also like that they have Saturday hours now. I think they rotate this service between the docs and the PAs, so maybe they see patients 4-5 hours on a Saturday each once a month or something like that is my guess.

The only thing I did not like recently if she gave me the right story, is that when she visited without me they asked what meds she wanted. My doc did that one time to me, and I'm hearing this more and more. For the most part I want the doc telling me what I need, not the other way around. She got some antibotics when I was pretty sure she did not need them. I think she got them because she asked, or begged. I hear docs saying if they don't give the patient what they want, they get bad reviews, so some have just given in.

[loves2read]

I think we might check with our son’s doctor—his practice is actually affiliated with Texas Health Resources like our current one—so they all feed into HEB hospital and the other THR system vs Baylor’s...

And as for that rather harsh response—

It is not having PA or NP for some appointments that is an issue—there are few practices that don’t use them because the ratio of FP drs to patients has gotten critical in past 10-15 yrs
But a doctor is still considered necessary for some aspects of health care

There are some medical professionals who have degrees from Ross in the Bahamas who are very good—and some that are not—
after all in any medical school class 50% of graduates are in bottom half—
And diplomas never show class rank—do they?

This is another graduate from Ross — UNTHSC President Michael R. Williams
Of course he also has degrees from Harvard and other very selective universities
So not the typical med school grad from Ross or most medical schools in all likelihood...