Bend, Ore.-based St. Charles Health System is mulling the idea of becoming a teaching hospital to draw in more physicians amid recruitment struggles, according to The Bulletin.
However, the majority of medical residencies are funded by Medicare, which places caps on the number of residents hospitals can have. St. Charles Health System's program is capped at one resident per year.
Jeff Absalon, MD, executive vice president and chief physician executive at the health system, told The Bulletin, "What it essentially means to us is if we choose to do this presently, we would be funding the cost of training these doctors."
St. Charles Health System and a number of other Oregon hospitals formed a consortium in 2015 to address physician shortages in rural areas of the state. The consortium previously argued CMS could lift the resident cap on hospitals with fewer than three residents. While the Obama administration rejected the notion, the hospitals are hoping the Trump administration may decide differently.
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