MMH Must Cope With Two Doctors Departing
MASSENA - Two Massena doctors are moving away by the end of October, leaving Massena Memorial Hospital with two open positions in a staff already facing a constant shortage of specialists.
Dr. Sanjay N. Shah, a general surgeon and general practitioner, and Dr. Maureen W. Daye, a gastroenterologist, both cited family reasons for the moves.
"We're obviously very sorry to see both of them leave," MMH Chief Executive Officer Charles F. Fahd II said. "Not only because they're both fine physicians but they're leaving relatively close together and it's always difficult, as we have become aware of over the years, to recruit new physicians to the north country."
The vacancies will leave two general surgeons, only one of which is on-call at night, and one gastroenterologist in Massena. The hospital is still looking to fill a handful of specialist positions, and recently hired several others, in the ongoing battle to attract and retain top medical talent in the region.
Mr. Fahd said the new vacancies will likely strain the remaining doctors who provide the same services as Dr. Daye and Dr. Shaw.
"It puts a burden upon them," Mr. Fahd said. "There's a possibility that they don't have enough time during the day to see all the patients that want to see them."
Dr. Shah will end both his practices after today, then be on call for emergency services for the hospital through September and October. He will continue practicing general surgery after moving south of Poughkeepsie to be closer to his children.
The move is a bittersweet one for Dr. Shah after spending 18 years practicing in Massena. He has had some patients since the very beginning.
"You establish a very nice relationship with the patients," Dr. Shah said. "They are like family."
All three of his children grew up here and graduated from Massena Central High School before they moved away.
"It's like home for them too," he said.
Many of his patients are going out of town to find a new primary care physician or have to wait months to have their first appointment with a private practice because of the lack of PCPs in Massena, Dr. Shah said.
To fill the void, the hospital is looking to hire two to three internal and family medicine doctors in the few next months, Mr. Fahd said. MMH is also trying to hire two more general surgeons, a new GI to replace Dr. Daye, and is continuing to look for a new Ear, Nose and Throat specialist. The previous ENT doctor left five to six years ago, Mr. Fahd said.
There are also many new hires at the hospital. Two new pediatricians are expected to fill vacancies in the next two months, Mr. Fahd said. One will join in the next month, and another has verbally accepted an offer the hospital made, he said.
A new cardiologist will come on board in 60 days, and a nephrologist, or kidney specialist, will start next month in a newly-created position. Now, dialysis patients will stay in Massena and not need to travel to Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital in Plattsburgh if they need hospitalization, MMH spokeswoman Tina Corcoran said.
The hospital has collaborated with Canton-Potsdam Hospital and Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center in Ogdensburg to fill the gaps in services it can't provide, Mr. Fahd said. In addition, the hospital hires physicians on a locum tenens, or temporary basis, until it can fill a long-term position.
"We're not going without docs," Mr. Fahd said. "We're making sure they're back filled but they're not back filled with permanent physicians."
Hiring doctors at any hospital is a lengthy process involving recruiting firms, negotiations, visits and contracts, Mr. Fahd said. Family considerations are important too, he said.
"Doctors will tell you that a hospital is a hospital is a hospital and sick patients are sick patients no matter where you go. They can pretty much practice wherever. But you have to keep, or make, the spouse happy," he said.
The north country in particular has some difficulties recruiting talent because of its climate , Mr. Fahd said.
"It does have its pluses but the climate is not always one people gravitate to," Mr. Fahd said.
Some doctors are also turned off by the sagging economy and shrinking population in Massena, he said. But with each interested doctor, the hospital tries to market all of the region's assets, as well as the promise of the idled Alcoa East plant's reopening.
"We have to make sure they understand there's a really bright light at the end of the tunnel," he said. "We have to put our best foot forward and make things look as positive as we can."
Dr. Daye could not be reached to comment.
