Internal Medicine opening details

Board Certified Internal Medicine. Desire and ability to manage a high volume practice. Taking over for very busy FP whose patient panel has an average age of 50 years.

The Practice:  Dover-Foxcroft Family Practice is the largest and most active of the Mayo Regional Hospital employed practices.  It is currently staffed with three full-time FP’s (two of whom include obstetrics in their practice), one half-time FP, one half-time pediatrician, and three part-time physician assistants.  Located on the campus of the hospital, we are conveniently located close to the hospital for rounding and deliveries.  We are open five days weekly from 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

The practice provides approximately 15,000 patient visits annually.  The practice is  rural health clinic, and receives cost-based reimbursement from Medicare and Medicaid.  This reimbursement makes it possible to continue to recruit physicians and pay them at a rate consistent with market norms.

The hospital is currently in the active stages of planning two major systems changes which will build on the success of this practice.  The first is a commitment to convert to electronic health records from the current paper-based system, with a timeframe for installation in 2009.  Administration and clinical staff is working with a health care architectural firm for the design of an entirely new office space that will be built on the hospital campus and designed around lean concepts and to facilitate the full implementation of the patient-centered medical home. 

Groundbreaking is expected in 2009 for that project as well.  This facility will be built with the capacity for up to eight full-time clinicians to work together in the care of our patients and their health care needs.  The physician who accepts this position will be in a position to help create this space and this transition. This is a position that could be filled by either a family physician with an interest in older patients or an internist.

 The Hospital:  Mayo Regional Hospital is the largest employer in the community, and has been operating in its current capacity for 30 years.  It is a 25-bed critical access hospital that offers a full complement of primary care services as well as psychiatry, orthopedics, ophthalmology, and, starting in summer 2008, otolaryngology services with physicians who live and practice in our community.  A variety of visiting specialists visit the community on a regular basis for outreach services as well. Obstetrical services are provided by a team of family physicians and obstetrician-gynecologists who work in concert with each other to provide a family-centered and community-based birthing experience for the families of the region. 

Mayo Regional Hospital is the primary operating arm of Hospital Administrative District #4, the governing body.  Mayo is a municipal hospital, owned by the 13 townships that are members of the district. The Board of Trustees consists of members of those communities elected to represent their community in the oversight of hospital operations.  As a municipal hospital, Maine state statutes have a unique section that puts a six-month statute of limitations on discovery for claims alleging medical malpractice against employees of a municipal interest.  This can be a comforting aspect for physicians who are employed by the hospital. 

Mayo Regional Hospital began employing physicians in 1993, in response to a variety of factors including uncertainties about reimbursement and a desire by many physicians to treat patients and not have the primary worries of practice administration.  From that start with Dover-Foxcroft Family Medicine to the present we now have five primary care practices throughout our service area as well as specialty practices in Dover-Foxcroft for Orthopaedics, General Surgery, Psychiatry, and OB/GYN. 

Full-time employment with Mayo Regional Hospital is considered to be four full days in the office with an equal share in night and weekend call with the other family physicians and internists on the active staff.The majority of physicians who have come to the community since 1993 have chosen to do so as employees of the hospital; there have been two who preferred a private practice model and who have been actively supported by the hospital in doing that.  At the present time:  of the 21 physicians on active staff 17 are employed in some way by the hospital.  The hospital and its administrative team are very attuned to the needs of the members of the medical staff.  All of the key board operating committees are composed of an equal balance of board and medical staff members.  The medical staff has a voice in hospital operations and planning and the administrative team seeks out that voice before making any significant decisions.  Medical Staff are involved in the formulation of new initiatives, rather than informed about them as they are being implemented. Mayo Regional Hospital developed a hospitalist program about ten years ago, which has grown to offer seven-day a week coverage with board-certified internists.  Physicians practicing in the community are able to follow their own patients in the hospital or work with the hospitalists to share management.  The service provides daytime coverage for inpatients; the night coverage is provided by the family physicians and internists in the community sharing in call responsibilities. 

This opportunity offers a ready panel of patients, a very competitive compensation package, and welcomes physicians who are interested in an active practice while maintaining a balance between professional and personal time.

Contact: Jane Ham, Director

Email: jham@themha.org