Tucson health care turns to alternative and high-tech solutions

As CEO of Tucson Medical Center, the city’s largest hospital and the flagship facility of TMC Health, Mimi Coomler would be the first to admit that the health care industry could use a little intensive care itself these days. 

“This isn’t unique to Tucson,” she qualified, “but hospitals face continued financial and staffing challenges, cost pressures and changes in reimbursement from insurance companies and government entities. That’s combined with the continued shortages of doctors, nurses and other medical staff.”

Indeed, staffing shortages continue to be a major problem for hospitals nationwide, with the United States facing a projected shortage of up to 124,000 physicians over the next decade, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges. That includes 48,000 primary care physicians and more than 77,000 medical specialists.

Read more at Inside Tucson Business