Over the course of her 38 years in practice, Portland radiologist Isabel C. Menendez, MD, has witnessed firsthand the many challenges of providing – and maintaining – high-quality medical care in rural communities.
After completing her residency, Dr. Menendez worked at a small, private community hospital in Aransas Pass, roughly 20 miles from Portland. Back then, there were several specialists on staff, including anesthesiologists, obstetrician-gynecologists, orthopedic surgeons, and cardiologists.
Since then, however, many specialists have left the region, which Dr. Menendez attributes to the rising costs of doing business as a solo practitioner. Hurricane Harvey accelerated this exodus when it hit the Texas coast in 2017, flooding the hospital and ultimately leading to its closure.
When a rural area loses its only hospital, patients suffer, she says. Many of the hospital’s patients lack transportation, leaving them unable to access care in nearby Corpus Christi or farther afield, regardless of whether they need regular dialysis treatment or to give birth.
“The people who are affected the most, unfortunately, are the low-income people,” Dr. Menendez said.
She and the other physicians who remained in the area also felt the impact, absorbing additional patients while dealing with onerous prior authorizations, time-consuming electronic health record systems, and shrinking payments.
“The way we’re practicing is so regulated,” she said. “It’s eroding the doctor-patient relationship, and doctors are overwhelmed by the volume.”
In the face of these challenges and amid concerns of physician burnout, Dr. Menendez finds solace in the Texas Medical Association’s advocacy. As a longtime delegate representing the San Patricio-Aransas-Refugio County Medical Society in TMA’s House of Delegates, she points to the association’s efforts to implement prior authorization reform and reduce maternal mortality.
Dr. Menendez also espouses investing in her community. Through a family foundation, she and her husband, Corpus Christi cardiologist Carlos Martinez-Quinonez, MD, recently served as sponsors of the TMA Foundation’s (TMAF’s) 29th annual gala, which took place in Houston in April. They were motivated to support TMAF because it funds community outreach programs in her area like TMA’s Hard Hats for Little Heads, which supplies free bicycle helmets for children.
“It’s a very good way to give back to the community,” she said. “I just feel blessed that I was able to study a profession that I truly loved.”
Emma Freer
Associate Editor
(512) 370-1383