Modesto Bee Article
 Letter to the Editor

last updated: April 7, 2009

So you don't think that the family residency program affects you. Wake up, Stanislaus County!

Most of the residents of Stanislaus County are only a few paychecks away from needing these important services. Get sick, lose your job, lose your medical insurance, where are you going to go? The county clinic.

And if the clinics close, where are you going to go now? The emergency room. Only now it is standing-room-only, and even if you are fortunate enough to have insurance, you are going to wait even longer to be seen.

And finally, after hours of waiting, a decision is made to admit you to the hospital. But wait, there are no beds available. All those uninsured people are now occupying the beds because they waited so long to see a doctor that they ended up in the emergency room with an acute illness that should have been treated much sooner. But there were no county clinics to take care of them.

So if you don't think that the elimination of the Family Practice Residency Program affects you, think again. It affects everyone in Stanislaus County.

JOSEPH J. PROVENZANO JR., D.O.

Past President, Stanislaus County Medical Society

Modesto