LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — As Las Vegas continues to grow, locals are finding the healthcare system isn't keeping up.
We've heard from many of you who've had to wait months just to get appointments, and for some, that could lead to life-changing consequences. This is a critical community concern we're committed to covering for locals like Michelle Wada.
Michelle beat stage four skin cancer several years ago, so when she found a lump in her throat earlier this year, she immediately worried it could be cancer again.
But it took almost nine months before she could get a definitive answer.
She joins a long line of patients saying Nevada's doctor shortage puts lives at an unacceptable risk.
For Michelle, it started with a cough.
"My husband kept asking me why I'm coughing so much. I had, like, this dry hacker's cough. I have never smoked, and I said I really don't know why. Maybe it's allergies. Then, it started feeling a little painful when I would cough and then I found the lump."
It took almost a month to get an initial doctor's appointment, which was on Jan. 18. Labs taken three weeks later confirmed she had an enlarged thyroid.
With her history of cancer, she needed a more definitive diagnosis.
"I'm stuck in a system that's not there for me. I was so incredibly scared, I called the news. I watch your channel every day. Literally. I watch it in the morning and I watch it in the evening and I see people who call you and they get the answers that they need. I thought well, maybe I can too."
Michelle originally reached out to me in mid-March after her primary care doctor told her she needed to see an endocrinologist.
"She said that I needed to be seen by an endo doctor to confirm and find out what type of masses were in my throat and why, and if they would potentially be life-threatening or be removed. However, that is where my very long journey started."
Getting in to see a specialist proved nearly impossible as Michelle found the "endocrinologist is approximately four months behind."
Because her insurance required her to seek care through Southwest Medical, we reached out to them and their parent company, United Healthcare. Advocates stepped in to help speed things up and Michelle got in to see a doctor.
"She confirmed that I had three masses in my throat and didn't have in-house biopsy," Michelle said.
She was referred to Steinberg Diagnostic for that with a written order from the doctor saying it was urgent.
"Urgent on the papers. Urgent! When I called Steinberg, I said, 'This is an urgent matter.' She said, 'Everybody's urgent. We're so far behind.'"
We intervened again to help her get referred somewhere else.
"When they sent me to the secondary doctor that had in-house biopsy, which was Palm Medical, they were out until August. I couldn't even get a timely appointment to confirm if it was or was not cancer. If I had a stubbed toe, I shouldn't have to wait six months to get help."
She turned back to the advocates we'd been working with together to see what else they could do.
"Both of them told me emphatically that they were concerned about the healthcare systems here in Las Vegas, and one of them is one of the head guys for Southwest Medical. They're well aware of the fallout here in Las Vegas when it comes to healthcare."
At Las Vegas Perspective in August, healthcare was highlighted as one of Nevada's primary obstacles to a better future.
"Healthcare in Nevada lags the rest of the country. We know it," Jeremy Aguero of Applied Analysis told the Las Vegas Perspective audience.
"The years of life lost as a result of lack of access to healthcare is 8,300. That is an amazing amount overall. If we look at the number of doctors — active physicians per 100,000 population — we rank 45 in the entire United States. We are 2,450 doctors short. So, when you're asking yourself why is it so hard to get an appointment, well, maybe not for you, maybe not for the people sitting in this room, but the people that are not as lucky or as fortunate as those, it is almost impossible."
To Michelle, that's preaching to the choir.
"How can we address the shortage of healthcare help that we have in the city as well as we do building new casinos, sports arenas and car races? Why can't we give simple human help to the people that live here, the people that are moving here, and the people that are keeping this city thriving?"
Michelle recently learned the nodules in her throat are benign but will likely require surgery, as they may eventually impact her ability to swallow. She says she'll probably go out of state for that procedure.
So, what are the reasons for Nevada's doctor shortage? It's not a simple answer.
The shortage exists for a number of reasons, including lack of available positions, burnout from the pandemic, low pay in comparison to other states, expensive liability insurance and people living and working longer.
But the state is looking to tackle the problem at the highest level.
In April, Gov. Joe Lombardo signed an executive order to give Nevada's Patient Protection Commission more power to review and make recommendations on how to address Nevada's healthcare worker shortage.
And at UNLV, CSN and local hospitals, there is now an increased focus on new educational and training programs to keep physicians in Nevada.
Studies have shown doctors are likely to stay where they train, indicating that 70 percent of physicians who go to medical school and do their residency in a particular state stay in that state.