August 27, 2024
By WWNY Staff
SARATOGA, New York (WWNY) – A north country elected official is “demanding immediate attention” to a shortage of doctors and other staff at the OG/GYN clinic at Fort Drum.
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY21) says the shortage is causing expectant women to seek care off-post, which she says causes a strain on local hospitals that often find themselves strapped for physicians.
The congresswoman penned a letter to Defense Health Agency director Lt. Gen. Telita Crosland “demanding immediate attention,” a Stefanik release said.
“The situation is dire,” she wrote. “The lack of available military inventory for physicians severely restricts our ability to fill these essential positions.”
Fort Drum, she said, has been forced to refer expectant mothers to off-post hospitals for third-trimester care since April 8.
She said the move is “disrupting continuity and straining already overwhelmed healthcare systems.”
Stefanik says because of recruitment challenges, retirements, resignations, and people leaving military service at the end of their terms, it could take four or five years to replenish the post’s OB/GYN staff.
