Harris County
Harris County has added 2,077 physicians since the passage of the 2003 medical lawsuit reforms. This represents a 47% greater growth rate than pre-reform. The greater growth rate has produced the opportunity for 4.257 million more patient visits per year and a direct economic impact of $662.2 million. During the past six years the growth in the physician workforce has outpaced population growth by 63%. New additions to the Harris County medical community include 180 internists, 169 pediatricians, 163 family practice or family medicine physicians, and 144 anesthesiologists. Also new to the county are 142 pediatric specialists, 124 emergency medicine physicians, 63 psychiatrists and 61 cardiologists. Other notable gains include 50 oncologists, 36 kidney specialists, 34 neurologists, 22 orthopedic surgeons, 21 obstetricians and 15 neurosurgeons.
Dallas County
Dallas County has added 1,276 physicians since passage of the 2003 medical lawsuit reforms. That represents a 46% greater growth rate than pre-reform. During the past five years the growth in the Dallas physician workforce has exponentially outpaced population growth. The greater growth rate has produced the opportunity for 2,767,500 more patient visits per year and a direct economic impact of $430,500,000. New additions to the Dallas County healthcare community include 173 anesthesiologists, 129 internists, 89 pediatric specialists, 85 pediatricians and 82 emergency medicine physicians. Also, new to the community are 36 psychiatrists, 33 oncologists, 32 kidney specialists, and 25 orthopedic surgeons. Dallas County has also added 22 rheumatologists, 18 diabetes specialists, 15 cardiologists and 12 allergists. Other notable gains include 20 infectious disease specialists 12 plastic surgeons, 11 geriatricians, and 10 transplant surgeons.
Bexar County
Bexar County has added 835 physicians since passage of the 2003 medical lawsuit reforms. This represents a 52% greater growth rate than pre-reform. During the past five years the growth in the physician workforce has quadrupled population growth. The greater growth rate has produced the opportunity for 1,314,000 more patient visits per year and a direct economic impact of $204,400,000. New additions to the Bexar County healthcare community include 92 anesthesiologists 79 internists, 79 family medicine and family practice doctors and 48 emergency medicine physicians. Bexar County has added 44 pediatric specialists, 40 pediatricians, 27 cardiologists, 20 orthopedic surgeons, 19 gastroenterologists and 18 oncologists.
Travis County
Travis County has added 639 physicians since passage of the 2003 medical lawsuit reforms. This represents a 57% greater growth rate than pre-reform. During the past five years the growth in the physician workforce has outpaced population growth by 271%. The greater growth rate has produced the opportunity for 1,048,500 more patient visits per year and a direct economic impact of $163,100,000. New additions to the Travis County healthcare community include 87 emergency medicine physicians 73 family medicine and family practice doctors, 54 internists and 31 pediatric specialists. Travis County has also added 19 orthopedic surgeons, 16 cardiologists, 13 kidney specialists, 13 neurologists, and 10 oncologists.
Collin County
Collin County has added 584 physicians since the passage of the 2003 medical lawsuit reforms. Growth in the physician workforce has nearly doubled the population growth The 584 new physicians have produced the opportunity for 2.628 million more patient visits per year and a direct economic impact of $408.8 million. New additions to the Collin County medical community include 73 internists, 59 family practice or family medicine physicians, 51 pediatricians and 34 obstetricians. Also new to the county are 24 emergency medicine physicians, 19 cardiologists 17 general surgeons, 16 orthopedic surgeons and 16 gastroenterologists. Other notable gains include 9 neurosurgeons, 8 oncologists, and 7 neurologists.
Tarrant County
Tarrant County has added 498 physicians since passage of the 2003 medical lawsuit reforms. This represents a 12.8% greater growth rate than pre-reform. During the past five years the growth in the physician workforce has outpaced population growth by 84%. The greater growth rate has produced the opportunity for 256,500 more patient visits per year and a direct economic impact of $39,900,000. New additions to the Tarrant County healthcare community include 76 family medicine and family practice doctors, 47 emergency medicine physicians, 39 internists and 23 pediatric specialists. Tarrant County has also added 20 cardiologists, 20 psychiatrists, 19 obstetricians, 19 orthopedic surgeons and 19 gastroenterologists. Other recent additions include 17 oncologists and 5 neurosurgeons.
Williamson County
Williamson County has added 181 physicians since the passage of the 2003 medical lawsuit reforms. This represents a 103% greater growth rate than pre-reform. The greater growth rate has produced the opportunity for 414,000 more patient visits per year and a direct economic impact of $64.4 million. During the past six years the growth in the physician workforce has outpaced population growth by 153%. New additions to the Williamson County medical community include 33 family practioners, 30 pediatricians, 14 obstetricians and 14 internists. Also new to the county are 9 cardiologists, 9 general surgeons, 7 emergency medicine physicians, 5 orthopedic surgeons and 5 gastroenterologists.
Denton County
Denton County has added 149 physicians since the passage of the 2003 medical lawsuit reforms. Although physician growth has been dramatic it has not quite kept pace with the meteoric 31.8% growth in population. The 149 new physicians have produced the opportunity for 670,500 more patient visits per year and a direct economic impact of $104.3 million. New additions to the Denton County medical community include 23 family practioners, 14 pediatricians, 12 orthopedic surgeons and 10 internists. Also new to the county are 9 emergency medicine physicians, 7 psychiatrists, 5 cardiologists, 4 oncologists and 4 kidney specialists. Other notable additions include 3 diabetes specialists, a heart surgeon, a surgical oncologist and a pediatric cardiologist.
Lubbock County
Lubbock County has added 62 physicians since passage of the 2003 medical lawsuit reforms. The growth rate in the physician workforce has actually slowed from the previous four years but has still managed to outpace population growth by 241%. The 62 new physicians have produced the opportunity for 279,000 more patient visits per year and a direct economic impact of $43,400,000. The Lubbock County healthcare community has added several hard-to-recruit specialists including 3 neurological surgeons, 3 orthopedic surgeons, 3 kidney specialists and 3 diabetic specialists. New additions also include 13 anesthesiologists, 12 family practioners, 6 emergency medicine specialists, six gastroenterologists and six radiologists.
Hidalgo County
Hidalgo County has added 140 physicians since passage of the 2003 medical lawsuit reforms. During the past five years the growth in the physician workforce has outpaced population growth by 21%. The 140 new physicians have produced the opportunity for 630,000 more patient visits per year and a direct economic impact of $98,000,000. New additions to the Hidalgo County healthcare community include 26 family practice and family medicine physicians, 22 pediatricians, 12 emergency medicine physicians and 11 internists. Other additions include 10 gastroenterologists, 9 obstetricians, 7 general surgeons, 6 cardiologists, 5 oncologists and 5 kidney specialists.
El Paso County
El Paso has added 132 physicians since passage of the 2003 medical lawsuit reforms. This represents a 55% greater growth rate than pre-reform. During the past five years the growth in the physician workforce has outpaced population growth by 90%. The physician growth rate in El Paso was half the state average in the four years leading up to Prop. 12. Since then, El Paso is nearly keeping pace with the rest of the state. The greater growth rate has produced the opportunity for 279,000 more patient visits per year and a direct economic impact of $43,400,000. New additions to the El Paso County healthcare community include 22 pediatricians, 14 family practioners, 12 emergency medicine specialists, 11 internists, and 11 anesthesiologists. Other notable additions include 7 cardiologists, 6 oncologists, 6 diabetes specialists, 4 orthopedic surgeons and 3 gastroenterologists.
Smith County
Smith County has added 110 physicians since passage of the 2003 medical lawsuit reforms. During the past five years the growth in the physician workforce has outpaced population growth by 62%. The 110 new physicians have produced the opportunity for 495,000 more patient visits per year and a direct economic impact of $77,000,000. New additions to the Smith County healthcare community include 11 emergency medicine physicians, 11 cardiologists, 10 family practice doctors, and 8 orthopedic surgeons. Other additions include 7 kidney specialists, 5 vascular surgeons, 4 trauma surgeons and 3 oncologists.
Nueces County
Nueces County has added 44 physicians since the passage of the 2003 reforms. During the past five years the growth in the physician workforce has outpaced population growth by 111%. The 49 new physicians have produced the opportunity for 220,500 more patient visits per year and a direct economic impact of $34,300,000. New additions to the Nueces County healthcare community include 16 emergency medicine physicians, 9 pediatricians, four cardiologists and two heart surgeons. Other notable additions include two oncologists, a neurologist and a trauma surgeon.
Ector County
Ector County has added 39 physicians since the passage of the 2003 medical lawsuit reforms. This represents a 58% greater growth rate than pre-reform. The greater growth rate has produced the opportunity for 67,500 more patient visits per year and a direct economic impact of $10.5 million. During the past six years the growth in the physician workforce has nearly tripled population growth. New additions to the Ector County medical community include 9 family practioners and 9 emergency medicine physicians, 4 general surgeons, 3 gastroenterologists, and 2 obstetricians. Other notable additions to the Odessa area include 2 orthopedic surgeons, a vascular surgeon, a critical care specialist and a kidney specialist.
Potter County
Potter County lost 26 physicians in the two years preceding reforms. The Amarillo area has since added 37 physicians. The growth in the physician workforce has produced the opportunity for 166,500 more patient visits per year and a direct economic impact of $25.9 million. During the past six years the growth in the physician workforce has outpaced population growth by 42 percent.New additions to the Potter County medical community include 11 family practioners, 8 obstetricians, 5 ophthalmologists, 4 emergency medicine physicians and 4 diabetes specialists. Other notable additions to the Amarillo area include 3 cardiologists and 2 pediatric specialists.
Randall County
Randall County lost three physicians the year preceding the passage of reforms. The county has since added 22 physicians including five cardiologists, 2 internists, 2 plastic surgeons, an urologist and a neurosurgeon. The growth in the physician workforce has produced the opportunity for 99,000 more patient visits per year and a direct economic impact of $15.4 million. During the past six years the growth in the physician workforce has far outpaced population growth.
Andrews County
Between 1999 and 2002, Andrews County lost four physicians; a full 28% of its physician workforce. The county has since replaced that loss with three family practioners, an obstetrician, a radiologist and a general surgeon. Since 2002, physician growth has more than tripled the county’s population growth. These new additions represent the opportunity for 18,000 more patient visits per year and a direct economic impact of $2.8 million.
Source: Texas Medical Board
Texas Medical Association
Texas Alliance For Patient Access
