In 2008, New York State enacted the Doctors Across New York program to improve health care access in rural communities by offering incentives to attract and retain physicians in underserved regions. Initiatives associated with this program include financial support to join or establish a practice, recruiting physicians to underserved hospitals, and physician educational loan repayment.

The Adirondack region of New York State is experiencing physician shortages. In 2013 the Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital (CVPH), located in Plattsburgh, was designated by the state Board of Regents as having shortages of both primary and non-primary care physicians. CVPH is a member of the University of Vermont Health Network which is comprised of six hospitals serving northern New York and Vermont. It has 300 inpatient beds, 21 maternity beds, and is a Level 1 perinatal center. A Level 1 perinatal center does not have a neonatal intensive care unit and handles only normal and low-risk deliveries. Plattsburgh is the largest city in northeastern New York with a population of approximately 32,000 in the immediate area. It is situated on the western shore of Lake Champlain and is in close proximity to Montreal, Quebec. Major employers are in the higher education and transportation industries.

This case continues our exploration of predictors of the total costs associated with inpatient newborn stays begun in the cases “Health Care Costs for Newborns in Adirondack Hospitals” and “Building a Simple Predictive Model for Health Care Costs for Newborns in Adirondack Hospitals.”