With a snip of giant red scissors last week, officials with Martha’s Vineyard Medical cut the ribbon symbolizing the transfer of the Vineyard Haven medical facility to its new owners.
Surrounded by family and supporters, Jeff Levy, owner of Martha’s Vineyard Medical, said Tisbury residents Michael and Melinda Loberg opened and nurtured a practice over 10 years ago on State Road, which has “allowed me to take it over now in a way that not only preserves it but lets us grow … we hope for generations to come.”
The newest addition among the Island’s healthcare leaders, Levy decided earlier this year to purchase the Tisbury medical center, formerly Vineyard Medical Care, after reading MV Times coverage that the healthcare organization needed to find a new owner or face shuttering — what could have increased the list of residents on the primary care waiting list exponentially.
“I just couldn’t believe that this was gonna happen, just knowing what a critical need healthcare is on the Island,” Levy said. “Even with the providers we have, how many people don’t have primary care providers? … How many people are not on waitlists?”
While efforts are underway to meet patient demand, healthcare officials across the Island worry that a combination of the Island’s housing crisis and the Trump administration’s looming spending cuts poised to strip health insurance from patients across the country could amplify a trend of long waiting lists for primary care providers.
The Island, and the nation, is facing a shortage. While there may be some overlap, the primary care waitlists of the three largest primary care providers on the Island — Martha’s Vineyard Hospital, Martha’s Vineyard Medical, and Island Health Care — collectively have nearly 1,700 people. While the hospital’s officials have reported fluctuating waitlist numbers of up to 1,500 patients this year, chief nurse and COO Claire Seguin said the waitlist currently stands at approximately 1,000 patients as of the end of June, which consists of roughly even thirds of those who have primary care elsewhere, seasonal residents with extended stays, and year-round Islanders roughly. Martha’s Vineyard Medical has a waitlist of roughly 500 people while Island Health Care in Edgartown has a waitlist of around 175 people.
Officials across the state have been working to fill the gaps, particularly trying to hone in on problems that contribute to the shortage of providers, including burnout, lower pay compared to specialized medical professionals, and strain from administrative duties. Although recruitment efforts are underway for Vineyard organizations, they’re taking different approaches to boost their ability to meet patient demand.
Levy is optimistic that a “virtuous cycle” of receiving more patients and hiring more primary care practitioners can eliminate its patient waitlist even within this year.
Levy, a long-time serial entrepreneur with experience consulting for healthcare startups, said the “biggest challenge” for the health center before he took over was that even with a long backlog, it wasn’t seeing enough patients and not generating enough income. That was with a shortage of doctors. Several physicians at the center had cut back hours and were looking toward retirement.
Among the ways to attract more candidates, Levy said Martha’s Vineyard medical will offer stock options in the center for employees and health insurance.
“The answer is that we need more providers, we need to be open more hours, we need to see more patients,” Levy said.
Martha’s Vineyard Hospital is also looking at new strategies to save time and hire more doctors. Seguin highlighted that new workplace strategies, including AI notetaking tools, improving “clinical workflow” for smooth patient care, and “wrap-around care” like social work makes the Island hospital an attractive employer.
“We’re continuously building and also aggressively … recruiting for more primary care providers to help meet the needs,” Seguin said. The chief nurse said that 16 new primary care providers have been added to the hospital’s roster since the fiscal year began in October, bringing the number to 10 full-time doctors and 10 “advanced practice providers,” which are teams of nurse practitioners and physician assistants providing care for patients.
The Vineyard hospital has also received support from Mass General Brigham (MGB), its parent organization. MGB announced in May a rollout of $400 million over the next five years to invest in primary care across its healthcare system. Anne Klibanski, MGB president and CEO, called the nationwide physician shortages a “crisis” and said in a May 12 email that the organization will be increasing the amount of resources for primary care providers to serve “highly complex patients, patients with social needs[,] and our aging population.” Additionally, the hospital group is looking to enhance training and education for primary care providers.
Klibanski also noted that “intensive focus groups” that started in early 2024 led Mass General Brigham to to recognize it had “not provided enough administrative and staffing support in primary care,” leading to support staff like medical assistants and coordinators to be hired to “support prior authorizations and prescription refills.”
This statement follows news earlier this year that the hospital network laid off administrative and leadership positions, some of which reportedly occurred on the Vineyard. Michael Morrison, MGB spokesperson, said “the reorganization that occurred this past spring focused on management roles.”
Seguin said the $400 million was a part of ongoing investments by the hospital network, acting as a pot of money for member hospitals, and didn’t have an estimate on how much the Vineyard hospital would receive.
Seguin also underscored that people can still access care at the hospital even without a primary care provider.
“No matter what, people can access care here,” Seguin said. “We have programs to do sick visits and have people be seen outside of the emergency department, even if they don’t have a dedicated primary care physician at this time.”
Still, the shortage makes accessing some care difficult for patients. The Massachusetts Health Policy Commission highlighted in January that a leading cause of residents in the state being unable to access primary care was an “inability to get an appointment at a doctor’s office or clinic when needed.”
While not having a primary care provider slows down appointment availability, it doesn’t outright block patients from receiving care. Cynthia Mitchell, CEO of Island Health Care, said new patients registered and queued at her organization may need to wait between three to six months to go to an appointment.
“It’s working pretty well,” Mitchell said. “People are moving.”
To meet demand, Mitchell said her organization is looking to purchase a van to increase its on-Island reach and clinical space. She also said “team-based care” and nursing visits provide services for those who may not have a primary care provider.
There have also been collaborative efforts to address Vineyarders’ health. The hospital and Island Health Care are gathering input from Vineyarders for their community health needs assessment, which will help in identifying gaps — like primary care access — and where resources should be directed
Despite efforts to meet primary care demand, there are challenges that on-Island medical caregivers face.
“The issue is that we still have people retiring,” Seguin said. “We also have some of the same issues that other Island businesses run into, which is housing.”
Seguin said while she can “plan for a little of that,” retirements and people having to leave because of other issues means she’s in a “constant state of recruitment.” Still, she highlighted that there’ll be some relief provided by the workforce housing units that recently opened on Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road.
Levy sees housing as a main challenge to bringing in more help. He said that while he’s eyeing a housing opportunity in Edgartown for a recently hired nurse practitioner, he’d welcome Islanders who could offer housing options as some physicians at Martha’s Vineyard Medical are eyeing retirement in the near future. He underscored that the small medical center wasn’t in a position to build a housing complex.
“One of my requests of Islanders is if you have a rental house or an apartment that you would be interested in having a year-round rental for someone who is a healthcare worker in our practice who can help the Island, please please let us know,” Levy said. “We can’t attract people if we can’t house them.”
Meanwhile, patients and caregivers fear the looming impact of President Donald Trump’s tax and spending bill signed into law on Fourth of July. Although a $50 billion stabilization fund was added to the bill to mitigate impact to rural hospitals and federal cuts aren’t expected to be felt until next year, there are concerns that cutting down on Medicaid and the coverage through the Affordable Care Act could shrink available services and close some healthcare facilities.
Seguin said while she doesn’t expect the federal cuts to impact recruitment efforts, there are concerns of whether Islanders will lose their health insurance.
“We’re paying attention to it and are worried about it, rightfully so,” Seguin said. “People have come up to me about that. They’re worried.”
That concern is increased by the fact a third of the Vineyard’s population is 65 or older, who need specialty care like for allergies and may have difficulties leaving the Island.
Frederick Rundlet, a patient at Martha’s Vineyard Medical and acting health director for the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah), said while the local medical caregivers are doing what they can, shifts may be needed in how they tackle the shortage.
“Essentially, we need the hospital, Island Health Care, and [Martha’s Vineyard Medical] to expand to the degree that they can,” Rundlet said.
He also echoed the need to address issues, like short-term rentals, that cut down on the Vineyard housing stock and called for a collaborative effort with other organizations and town officials be made to address an Island-wide public health issue — especially since healthcare providers nationwide are competing for the same pool of primary care providers.
“If we have 2,000 people running around with the flu without a doctor, that’s going to affect business,” Rundlet said.
“Trump administration’s looming spending cuts poised to strip health insurance from patients across the country”, FAKE NEWS!