Something for Retirees Contemplating a Move to Rural Areas to Consider (spouse, years)
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I am astounded by the incredible low emergency air service annual cost of only $50.
Does the annual cost only give you access to the service but you have to pay for each usage or does it cover everything?
I find it's hard to believe that any commercial outfit could offer such a low fee. The fuel cost of the helicopter/plane alone would be way more than $50/hour let alone the manpower cost.
The article below shows the exorbitant cost of air ambulance in rural areas
If you think emergency health care transportation is important, consider joining your local ambulance company as a contributing member. Many are served by volunteers and are often underfunded, serving chicken dinners and the like o cover expenses. If nothing else, be sure to subscribe when the letter comes around each year.
Absolutely! And in the middle of nowhere you have no choices.
I am a "school snob" in that I pay attention to where a physician was trained, the sorts of training and boards they have and their privileges, etc. I typically pick physicians who are in group practices. It can be very competitive to get into a top group practice. There are other ways of picking a physician and having a high probability of getting a first rate physician.
You can have the best doctor on the planet that went to a top medical school, but do understand your healthcare is not just delivered by your physician it involves multiple individuals and it just takes one of those individuals in the healthcare delivery food chain to mess up or there is a process flaw and you end up with a poor outcome. And these poor outcomes don't just happen at Honky Tonk General they also happen at Mass General. And more often than not your doctor will likely have no involvement in the process that resulted in a poor outcome or could have prevented it from happening.
You can have the best doctor on the planet that went to a top medical school, but do understand your healthcare is not just delivered by your physician it involves multiple individuals and it just takes one of those individuals in the healthcare delivery food chain to mess up or there is a process flaw and you end up with a poor outcome. And these poor outcomes don't just happen at Honky Tonk General they also happen at Mass General. And more often than not your doctor will likely have no involvement in the process that resulted in a poor outcome or could have prevented it from happening.
Absolutely, the status of healthcare is scary. A few years ago, the best estimate was that healthcare errors resulted in close to 100,000 deaths per year. Lots of emphasis has gone into reducing errors, but as I understand it the most recent analysis by Johns Hopkins estimates that errors are the third leading cause of death and the estimate has risen to 295,000 deaths per year.
Some of the errors are physician generated such as incorrect diagnosis or treatment. Others are incorrect meds, lab errors, failure to treat, and on and on. In my opinion this makes it even more important to be careful in selecting a physicians and hospitals. The best physicians and the best hospitals and other facilities make errors but hopefully fewer errors. Outcome statistics show that results vary greatly for different hospitals. Unfortunately it is not usually possible for those of us who are patients to reliably determine the quality of care we receive. A pleasant staff and a positive bedside manner may please patients without really indicating quality of care. It is also unfortunate that much of the ratings for hospitals, physicians and other providers is based on patient satisfaction surveys. I spent enough time dealing with physicians to realize that I want my care provided by the top physicians who competed to be admitted and to succeed in the top medical schools.
Here is an Oregon Coast Town, that has become a retirement favorite for a lot of people. Note City-Data.com statistics. Note Median Resident Age is almost 60 years old. It has increased in population by 17% between 2000 and 2014. Growing faster today. Most new residents are retired, merchants etc., doctors. Homes are reasonable.
Here is an Oregon Coast Town, that has become a retirement favorite for a lot of people. Note City-Data.com statistics. Note Median Resident Age is almost 60 years old. It has increased in population by 17% between 2000 and 2014. Growing faster today. Most new residents are retired, merchants etc., doctors. Homes are reasonable.
It is amazing how different we all see the world. I have spent a lot of time enjoying the Oregon coast. No way would I want to live there. This post is about healthcare so I should first mention that I would not want to depend on a 20 something bed hospital for anything but the most basic healthcare. For anything except the basics, a patient would need to get to Portland. Since that already happened to me with a retinal detachment that occurred while I was on the coast, I can tell you the drive seems extremely long when there is a medical emergency. The drive is on relatively narrow roads crossing the coastal mountains if they are not iced over.
Anyone interested in retiring to Florence or a similar location should check the City Data information. For 6 months of the year the weather is abysmal. Cold (30s- low 50s), heavy rains or constant drizzle, virtually no sunshine, foggy, just plain depressing. Next check out the opportunities for someone with intellectual or artistic interest. That is worse than the weather. The population is self selecting. There is little in the way of jobs or careers. Anyone with get up and go, did exactly that leaving behind a population where 80 plus percent don't have a college degree and if they do it is unlikely to be utilized.
Several friends retired from the SF Bay Area to Florence...
They liked it a lot but when they passed away, their kids wanted no part of it and the 3 homes were sold... the reason one said is they had never visited and NOT used the windshield wipers at least once each day...
As for small clinics/towns... they can surprise you.
We were on a ski trip at Tahoe and a friend badly injured herself... I took her to the "Clinic" in Truckee... wondering if this was a smart move.
Turns out a premier orthopedic surgeon was there and she was in the best hands possible...
The specialty is ortho injuries... who would have thought?
Several friends retired from the SF Bay Area to Florence...
They liked it a lot but when they passed away, their kids wanted no part of it and the 3 homes were sold... the reason one said is they had never visited and NOT used the windshield wipers at least once each day...
As for small clinics/towns... they can surprise you.
We were on a ski trip at Tahoe and a friend badly injured herself... I took her to the "Clinic" in Truckee... wondering if this was a smart move.
Turns out a premier orthopedic surgeon was there and she was in the best hands possible...
The specialty is ortho injuries... who would have thought?
I thought that everyone knew that. Ski areas are gold mines for orthopedic surgeons. Additionally, they become very good at a variety of truly exotic injuries because they see everything.
It is amazing how different we all see the world. I have spent a lot of time enjoying the Oregon coast. No way would I want to live there. This post is about healthcare so I should first mention that I would not want to depend on a 20 something bed hospital for anything but the most basic healthcare. For anything except the basics, a patient would need to get to Portland. Since that already happened to me with a retinal detachment that occurred while I was on the coast, I can tell you the drive seems extremely long when there is a medical emergency. The drive is on relatively narrow roads crossing the coastal mountains if they are not iced over.
Anyone interested in retiring to Florence or a similar location should check the City Data information. For 6 months of the year the weather is abysmal. Cold (30s- low 50s), heavy rains or constant drizzle, virtually no sunshine, foggy, just plain depressing. Next check out the opportunities for someone with intellectual or artistic interest. That is worse than the weather. The population is self selecting. There is little in the way of jobs or careers. Anyone with get up and go, did exactly that leaving behind a population where 80 plus percent don't have a college degree and if they do it is unlikely to be utilized.
There are a lot of considerations besides health care. Most of the beach houses are vacant except for weekends between Memorial Day and Labor Day. That's really unfortunate, because some of the best weather of the year happens in September and October. Once the winter storms start rolling in off the North Pacific, though, a lot of people go elsewhere. My wife and I can rent a million dollar family retreat on a cliff overlooking the Pacific for $1,000 a week. We go there, have a good time, and go home. The family only uses it about 3 or 4 weeks a year, and the rest of the time they rent it out to defray maintenance expenses, which are huge. In the endless rent vs. buy debate, when I can rent a gorgeous house for two weeks for a couple of grand, I would never buy a house at the coast.
There isn't much around Florence but sand dunes, but they do have a Peace Health satellite clinic. Peace Health is based out of Eugene, about an hour and a half away, and offers excellent care. Specialist docs will drive over to Florence 2-4 times a month to see local patients. There is not enough business to support a full time specialist, but care is available by appointment. The patient has to go to Eugene for surgery or other specialist treatment, but can get follow-up care locally.
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