CHARLESTON, WV (WOWK) — When it comes to your child, having quality and consistent medical care is likely a top priority. But nationally, there is a significant shortage of pediatricians. It is a situation that is projected to get worse and more widespread in the coming years. 

“Sometimes it is hard to find pediatricians, pediatricians that are taking new patients, because the system is so overwhelmed right now,” said Rhianna Schoeller, Parent and Certified RN Anesthetist.

Parent Sheri Rasberry, from Nitro, WV noted something similar. 

“It was very frustrating because every time I would call a doctor, I wouldn’t even get further than ‘are you accepting new patients’, and they would say no,” she said. 

Two parents with different stories to tell, but both agreeing that finding a pediatrician isn’t as easy as it used to be.

Schoeller works in the medical field, but is also raising a five-year-old. Instead of having just one regular pediatrician, her daughter Tiana sees different doctors within the same practice. 

“We go to the Charleston Area Medical Center’s Children’s Medicine Center,” Schoeller said. “She’s been going there since she was a baby. And, they’ve always been able to get us in, and it is great. So, it is really nice for us, but I know people who live outside of Charleston or don’t want to go to the main hospital for their pediatrician needs, have a harder time.” 

Rasberry’s son Weston has special needs, so when her family’s long-time pediatrician passed away, it left her scrambling to find someone she could trust to handle his care. “I had posted it to see recommendations from friends and family, called them first, and then we just started going down the list and it was pretty much a no on everybody,” Rasberry said. 

Weston has specialty doctors, but they counted on his regular pediatrician to write certain prescriptions and notes for school. Initially she thought she’d have to start taking Weston to a practice with several doctors, similar to where Schoeller takes her daughter. 

“That is what we were going to resort to. Not that there is anything wrong with them, they are probably great doctors as well, but with having a special needs son, it is just too hard to have to go through the story every single time you go into an office,” Rasberry said.  

Leaders in the industry say there are many reasons for the shortage.  

“Pediatricians are some of the lowest paid subspecialties. As medical school debt continues to rise, I’ve had students tell me, ‘I would love to go into a primary care specialty, I simply can’t afford it’ because when you are graduating medical school with 400 or 500,000 dollars in debt you have to try to set yourself up for a way that you can payback those loans successfully,” said Lisa M. Costello, MD, MPH, FAAP, Assistant Professor, Clerkship Co-director in the Department of Pediatrics at West Virginia University School of Medicine. She is also Immediate Past President, West Virginia State Medical Association and Immediate Past President, WV Chapter American Academy of Pediatrics. 

Children’s Practicing Pediatricians, a non-profit medical association started by pediatricians at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, noted similar reasons in a recent blog. Those reasons include an aging population of doctors, poor financial incentives and not enough students opting to follow that career path. It can get even more complicated when it comes to children with needs beyond what a general pediatrician can provide. 

“Some children may need pediatric subspecialty care, and that is more than likely going to need to occur through one of the children’s hospitals,” Costello said. “But, we certainly see in rural states, not just West Virginia, access to those subspecialists when it comes to pediatrics is certainly a challenge.” 

When it comes to addressing the problem nationally, pediatricians say steps like encouraging more medical students to pursue pediatrics, making resources available to allow a better work-life balance and better financial incentives, could have some positive impact. In the meantime, doctors say parents may have to travel or consider telehealth. 

“Reaching out to some of the larger children’s hospitals that we have in our state I think would be important. Certainly, we know that access to transportation is a challenge for patients of all ages in our state. So as we’ve seen the growth in telemedicine there is opportunity for telehealth visits,” Costello said. 

After months of stress and worry, Rasberry was finally able to find a doctor to be Weston’s local pediatrician. She’s hoping things will get better for other parents in the years ahead.