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Health Care Providers Impact Statement for Pierce County

Number of docs in 2009: 1651. That’s 20.7 physicians per 10,000 population,¹ the sixth-highest rate in western Washington. Washington’s rate is 21.2 physicians per 10,000; the national average is about 20.2 per 10,000.² Washington imports about 85% of its physicians from other states or nations.³

Health professional breakout:

---MultiCare operates four hospitals in Pierce County. MultiCare Tacoma General Hospital has 30 MDs, two DOs, one physician assistant and two nurse practitioners.

---Its Allenmore Hospital in Tacoma employs four MDs and one nurse practitioner, while its Allenmore Medical Center buildings house another 30 MDs, one DO, two physician assistants and three nurse practitioners.

---MultiCare has 47 MDs and two physician assistants at its Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital and related clinics.

---MultiCare also employs 37 MDs and three DOs at its Good Samaritan Hospital and clinics in Puyallup.

---The Franciscan Medical Group also operates four hospitals in Pierce County. In Tacoma, it employs 457 MDs, 25 DOs, 12 physician assistants and 37 nurse practitioners whose primary hospital is St. Joseph Medical Center.

---In Lakewood, it has 76 MDs, five DOs and three nurse practitioners whose primary hospital is St. Clare Hospital.

---St. Elizabeth Hospital in Enumclaw is the primary hospital for 26 MDs, two DOs and six physician assistants.

---In Gig Harbor, 49 MDs, five DOs, three physician assistants and five nurse practitioners make St. Anthony Hospital their first place to practice. Franciscan also has 53 MDs, five DOs, one physician assistant and four nurse practitioners who work in Puyallup.

---It has 15 MDs in University Place, along with one DO and four nurse practitioners, and a few other providers scattered in smaller Pierce County towns.

---Tacoma's Veterans' Administration medical division has 52 MDs on its roster, one DO, 13 nurse practitioners and five dentists.

---Tacoma is also home to Madigan Army Medical Center.⁴

Number of current WWAMI Spokane and Pullman medical students from Pierce County: six

Number of current WSU pharmacy students from Pierce County: 15

Number of current WSU nursing students from Pierce County: 45

Number of current WSU nutrition and exercise physiology students from Pierce County: six

Number of current WSU speech and hearing sciences students from Pierce County: seven

UW School of Medicine clinical faculty in Pierce County: 45 MDs, three DOs, one physician assistant and one nurse practitioner.⁵

Health professionals from Pierce County who graduated from Washington colleges:

---MultiCare Tacoma General Hospital employs three UW School of Medicine graduates, eight former Washington residents, five former Washington fellows and three physician assistants who went through UW’s MEDEX program.

---MultiCare Allenmore Medical Center also has three UW medical graduates, in addition to seven former Washington residents, two former fellows and one MEDEX graduate.

---MultiCare’s Good Samaritan Hospital in Puyallup has 29 UW medical graduates, in addition to 55 former residents and eight fellows.

---MultiCare’s Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital has six UW medical grads, 10 former residents and four former fellows.

---The Franciscan Medical Group’s St. Joseph Medical Center in Tacoma has 33 UW medical grads among its staff and consulting physicians. It also has 30 doctors who did their residencies in Washington, 22 former fellows and one physician assistant who graduated from UW’s MEDEX.

---Franciscan’s St. Clare Hospital in Lakewood has 10 UW medical grads, nine former residents and two former fellows.

---St. Elizabeth Hospital in Enumclaw has three UW medical grads and three physician assistant grads.

---St. Anthony Hospital in Gig Harbor has two UW medical graduates and three former residents.

---Franciscan’s clinic in University Place has four former UW medical students and one former resident. Its clinic in Puyallup has four UW medical school grads, two former residents and two former fellows.

---Tacoma's VA medical center employs three UW School of Medicine graduates and one UW dental graduate.⁶

Tacoma (including the Madigan Army Medical Center) is a residency site for new family medicine doctors. Tacoma hospitals, including Madigan, host third and fourth-year medical students in a variety of clerkships. Tacoma is also a place where medical students can practice their skills in a rural setting between their first and second years (Rural/Underserved Opportunities Program).⁷

Pierce County unemployment rate (Nov. 2012): 7.9% (state average 7.8% seasonally adjusted, 7.3% not seasonally adjusted) ⁸

Health care/social assistance employment in Pierce County⁹ : 37,462 (out of 261,900 jobs). It’s the county’s second-largest employer, providing about $424 million in payroll, about 15.2% of the county’s total payroll.