PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Finding a primary care doctor on the Treasure Coast can mean waiting months or even longer for an appointment.
A check of five doctors' offices on the Treasure Coast found wait times ranging from a couple of weeks to five months, and one office could not schedule an appointment until next year.
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HCA Florida's St. Lucie and Lawnwood hospitals are finding innovative ways to address the shortage. They've opened new simulation labs designed to train and retain doctors in the region.
Inside the simulation lab at HCA Hospital in Port St. Lucie, residents like Dr. Cody Steed practice procedures on a mannequin, a lifelike training tool equipped with a heartbeat and detectable pulses.
"It has a heartbeat. You can actually feel pulses in it," Dr. Steed said.
Steed said the lab allows residents to sharpen their abilities without risk to real patients.
"You can really test your skills and test your knowledge and you can identify areas of lapse," Dr. Steed said.
Dr. Lindsay Lewis, who runs the Family Medicine Residency Program, said the physician shortage is a deep-rooted problem with no quick solution.
"The lack of primary care is a systematic issue that's going to take years to try to get ahead of and on top of, unfortunately," Lewis said.
Lewis said healthcare professionals are also contending with burnout and insurance struggles, compounding the challenge of reducing wait times.
"Patient wait times if you're going to different areas can be six months to a year," Lewis said.
Lewis said the shortage will not be resolved overnight, but she believes innovative training tools can help recruit and keep doctors in the area.
"It's going to help retain the physicians when they see that the companies here are actually able to support their physicians," Lewis said.
Portions of this story were assisted by artificial intelligence tools and reviewed by a WPTV journalist to ensure accuracy, clarity, and adherence to editorial standards.
