Eastern Shore Residents Lack Health Care Resources
By Emily Mapp Brannon, Eastern Shore VA Injury Lawyer
The U.S. Census Bureau counted 51,398 residents of the Virginia (VA) Eastern Shore counties of Accomack and Northampton in 2000. A July 2008 estimate put the number of people living on the Eastern Shore at 51,595. So the population hasn’t grown much over the past decade. The number of hospitals and clinics serving the Eastern Shore hasn’t grown at all.
A single hospital and a single clinic system with six satellite offices serve the entire population and 662 square miles of the Eastern Shore. Riverside Shore Memorial Hospital in Nassawadox holds a license for 143 beds, 14 of which can be reserved for in-patient mental health care. The main facility offers emergency, surgical, orthopedic, cancer, cardiovascular and pulmonary care. Riverside also operates Shore LifeCare in Parksley for patients who are too sick or injured to live at home, as well a family care and general medical practice named the Shore Medical Center at Metompkin.
Adults and children living on the Eastern Shore also have access to more routine outpatient and dental care through the clinics operated by the Eastern Shore Rural Health System in Cheriton, Chincoteague, Franktown, Nassawadox, Oakhall and Onley.
Nassawadox sits in pretty much right in the middle of Virginia’s Eastern Shore, placing its hospital’s emergency room as much as 35 miles from car accident victims in Cape Charles in the south and New Church and Sinnickson in the north. In addition to Riverside Shore Memorial’s geographic inaccessibility for many people, an article published in Virginian-Pilot in February 2009 paints a picture of a hospital badly in need of major repairs, technological upgrades and infusions of cash and doctors, nurses and other medical personnel in order to better care for patients.
Doubtless, many Eastern Shore residents travel north into Maryland (MD) or south into Virginia Beach and Norfolk, Virginia (VA) when they need medical care. This may be good for the bottom line of health care systems like Sentara, Bon Secours and the McCready Foundation of Crisfield, Maryland (MD). It is, at a minimum, a huge inconvenience for people who are sick or injured. At worst, lack of easy access to quality and necessary medical care can result in chronic poor health and even death.
Another possible negative outcome from having few choices for where to get care and of whom to get care from is that patients may be treated poorly. Where there are few doctors, there is also a dearth of broad experience, specific expertise and recourse to second opinions or alternative treatments. This could lead to an unnecessary loss of life if someone who is seriously injured doesn’t receive adequate care.
About the Editors: Shapiro, Cooper Lewis & Appleton is a Virginia injury law firm handling Eastern Shore VA injury accident law and we have handled thousands of car and truck accident cases, including many on Virginia’s Eastern Shore. Check out our case results to see for yourself. We are familiar with Route 13, including people from Accomack, Onancock, Chincoteauge, Wachapreague, and Cape Charles, Bloxom, Eastville, Exmore, Greenbackville, Machipongo, Mappsville, Melfa, Nassawadox, Onley, Tangier, Temperanceville, Wachapreague, and Wallops Island. We provide free injury case consultations, so call us toll free at 1-800-752-0042. Our injury attorneys also host an extensive injury law video library on Youtube. Rick Shapiro and James Lewis were included among the “Best Lawyers in America” 2010 Edition. These two, along with fellow attorney John M. Coper were named 2010 Virginia “Super Lawyers” For Personal Injury Law (less than 5% of outstanding lawyers are chosen), and selected by the National Million Dollar Advocates Forum. In addition, we were the first injury law firm in Virginia to join Primerus, a select group of highly ethical, respected law firms. We provide this blog as a pro bono public service.
EJL
