A bit of a rant here, regarding Northern Lights...although, it's really not entirely their fault.

Maine needs to create an environment that attracts talent to the state, especially in the field of healthcare, what with us being the tip of the spear in terms of the aging population.

I went to the ER in Bangor around June 1st. They determined I needed to see a specialist (Ortho), and said I would get a call. That appointment finally got scheduled for July...over a 1 month wait.

At that appt, it was determined I needed an MRI. That got scheduled for Aug 8th. I managed to get the MRI at another facility, which had pretty much 0 wait time. Now it's time for the followup with Ortho. That hasn't been scheduled yet. The only other Ortho under Northern Lights is in Ellwsorth, and they're booking out into Sept.

So assuming that this requires surgery, this whole ordeal will span roughly 6mos. That's 6mos that I'm unable to work, and 6mos that I have to borrow money to pay for my family's health insurance, and I have a federal job.

CLearly there is a lack of resources at Northern Lights. I'm sure this is going to draw many posts regarding "for profit", etc, etc. But I don't know if that's the issue.
Maybe it is...maybe they don't want to hire any more resources. But a friend of a friend said that they're losing talent left and right, and that a good part of it is that Doctors and PA's don't want to live in a state that's #1 in the country for the highest taxes paid. Maine Taxes

Between taxes and the cost of housing, why would a young professional want to come work here?

*****EDIT*****

I know a lot of people are saying we need single payer...but I fail to see how that fixes this. This is a resource issue, and there is just nothing to recomment living here to someone who can pretty much get a job anywhere.

Single payer doesn't free up resources.