UPMC Somerset set to open new primary care locations among other facilities

UPMC Somerset is hoping to open their new Davidsville primary care facility in August and a Drug and Alcohol center in April. These are just a few of their initiatives to expand healthcare in our area in response to a community needs assessment they conducted in 2022.

According to the National Rural Healthcare Association the patient to primary care physician ratio in rural areas is only 39.8 physicians per 100,000 people, compared to 53.3 physicians per 100,000 in urban areas. This is a significant issue that prevents many people from seeking care due to a lack of access to healthcare services.

“We’re constantly looking at the community needs assessment and that comes up quite often that the residents of our area have answered that they’d like to have more access," said Andrew Rush, president UPMC Somerset. “We are in a somewhat more rural area and it is difficult sometimes to find a number of physicians that provide care. We are fortunate to be a part of UPMC to have the ability to continue to recruit. It’s always challenging but we have been successful in recruiting very good doctors to the region.”

UPMC’s community needs assessment states that in Bedford, Blair, Somerset, and Allegany counties, around two-thirds of deaths are attributable to chronic disease such as obesity, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, or cancer. All of these can be detected with the help of primary care screenings.

“When people don’t have access to primary care there tends to be more serious health related issues that occur," said Rush. “People don’t go through their screenings, their preventative health screenings as frequently as they should, and this leads to more serious health issues if it’s not caught early. Primary care is the foundation of our organization just as it is for most organizations and it’s going to be a concern going forward throughout the country.”

Most counties have also been seeing an overall decline in population but an increase in the amount of elderly, or those aged 65+. Somerset county’s total population has seen a 5 percent decrease from 2010 to 2018. While the elderly population has seen a 15 percent increase from 2010 to 2018.

“Much of what we see that comes in the hospital may have been prevented with regular routine visits to a primary care doctor," said Rush. "It’s important and we can’t convey that message enough.”

Visit the UPMC Somerset website for more information.

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