Two letters in the the Feb. 3 edition of the Cape Gazette highlight serious problems with the rapid pace of development in eastern Sussex County – an insufficient number of primary-care providers and medical specialists, and reliable modes of transportation for the door-to-door delivery for those too old to drive.
Kudos to Nancy Feichtl, who realized eight years ago that the aging population was going to need transportation in their futures. She spent much of her own money and many hours connecting to a national organization, ITN, in order to provide trained drivers to assist the elderly with doctors’ visits, shopping and other appointments. Both Nancy and her husband Joe drove more than 24,000 miles over several years, hired paid drivers, and had wonderful volunteer drivers. But the pandemic wreaked havoc on the local ITN and they were forced to shut down.
Like Bill Hicks, who must now drive two hours for his care, I realized the inadequacy of specialists after calling our beach area, Salisbury, Berlin, Milford, etc. And here is the looming problem. What happens when your cadre of doctors is ready to retire? I spoke with one physician who has been trying to recruit new docs for his practice, and he said the area’s housing is too expensive when young physicians are expected to pay off their medical school bills in five years.
Is anyone at county council ready to work on these issues?
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