Ohio Primary Care Physicians Workforce Collaborative Defines Mission

The Ohio Primary Care Physicians Workforce Collaboration met on April 17 to further refine its mission, vision and goals as follows:

Vision
All Ohioans have ready access to comprehensive primary care services delivered by clinicians who know them personally and care for their bio-psycho-social health needs in the context of their family and the community in which they live. 

Mission
To ensure an adequate supply and distribution of primary care physicians in Ohio who are trained to provide comprehensive, continuous primary care using the Advanced Primary Care (APC) model. 

Goals

1. Stabilize and expand the existing Ohio primary care physician residency training programs (producing generalist physicians) to meet unmet and future population health needs.
2. Create new primary care physician residency training programs in Ohio (producing generalist physicians) in a thoughtful and coordinated manner in order to meet projected population health needs and have a positive impact on the distribution of primary care physicians in the state.
3. Grow Ohio’s primary care physician GME capacity in a cost effective way partnering with:

• • Area Health Education Centers (AHEC)
  • Teaching Hospital Associations
  • Legislators
  • Ohio Children’s Hospital Association
  • Ohio Department of Health
  • Ohio Department of Higher Education
  • Ohio Department of Medicaid
  • Ohio Hospital Association (OHA)
  • Program Director organizations – FM, IM, IM/Peds, Peds
  • Others interested in partnering to achieve OPCPWC mission.

4. Achieve this expansion with consideration of all GME training programs and the emergence of increased medical student education in Ohio.

5. Recommend the development of a Graduate Medical Education Council (GMEC) to support the sustainability and growth of all residency training in Ohio consistent with physician workforce needs.

6. Recommend the development of metrics of success that the GMEC will utilize to enhance program accountability for quality and balanced workforce production, as well as the appropriate distribution to all parts of Ohio.

• Ted Wymyslo, MD, FAAFP, chief medical officer, Ohio Association of Community Health Centers
• Ken Johnson, DO, executive dean, Ohio University-HCOM, Representative of the Ohio Council of Deans
• Margaret Dunn, MD, dean, Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine, representative of the Ohio Council of Deans
• Heather Reed Robinson, MA, associate director, Ohio Colleges of Medicine, GRC
• Pat Ecklar, MD, representative of the Ohio Chapter of the American College of Physicians (ACP)
• Doug Harley, DO, FACOFP, FAAFP, representative of the Ohio Osteopathic Association/Ohio ACOFP
• Don Mack, MD, representative of the OAFP
• Chris Peltier, MD, FAAFP, representative from the Ohio Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatricians.

The next meeting of the group is scheduled for Tuesday, May 1.