WASHINGTON – Sen. Chuck Grassley has introduced bipartisan legislation that would produce high quality data on where general surgeons are in short supply around the country.  The need for general surgeons is especially high in rural or other under-served communities.
 
“If you fall from the barn or are injured in an tractor accident on the farm in rural Iowa, there are no general surgeons available nearby to evaluate you to discover the potential, hidden injuries, let alone perform surgery to treat them,”  Grassley said.  “And we know that general surgeons are in short supply all over.  Our bill would help determine exactly where those doctors are needed the most.  With that determination, policymakers and the medical community will be able to place surgeons in the areas of dire need.”
 
Grassley introduced the Ensuring Access to General Surgery Act of 2016 (S. 3166).  The bill is identical to a bill pending in the House of Representatives.  The measure would direct the Department of Health and Human Services to conduct a study on the designation of surgical Health Professional Shortage Areas.  Such an area is an urban, suburban or rural area of the United States with a population underserved by general surgeons.  High quality, impartial data should consider health outcomes, utilization trends, growing and aging populations and delivery system needs, which all have an effect on surgeon demands.
 
Grassley said he was inspired to introduce the Senate version of the bill by a general surgeon in Keokuk, Iowa, who is concerned about the shortage.  Dr. Philip R. Caropreso, a board-certified general surgeon, said the next board-certified general surgeon is nearly 50 miles from him in Iowa.
 
The American College of Surgeons strongly supports the Ensuring Access to General Surgery Act.
 
“Having access to a general surgeon is critical to those who would otherwise have to travel great distances to receive care.  The Ensuring Access to General Surgery Act of 2016 would provide us with a roadmap for identifying general surgery shortage areas and the tools to develop a plan for addressing those shortages,” said American College of Surgeons Executive Director, David B. Hoyt, MD, FACS (Fellow of the American College of Surgeons).
             
Among other rural health care bills, Grassley also is the sponsor of the Rural Emergency Acute Care Hospital (REACH) Act that would give eligible hometown hospitals a lifeline to help keep their doors open by putting an emphasis on emergency room care and outpatient services.
 
The text of the Ensuring Access to General Surgery Act is available here. 
 
 

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