‘We do not have enough doctors’: OHSU and St. Charles bring rural residency program to expand care in Jefferson County

(Update: Adding video)

MADRAS, Ore. (KTVZ) - Two new medical residents arrived in Madras this summer through the Three Sisters Rural Track Program (RTP), helping address the region’s shortage of primary care doctors.

The program is a partnership between Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) and St. Charles Health System. It's the first graduate education program in Central Oregon. 

Drs. Ben Khalil and Callie Krewson are the first two residents to participate.

Each doctor will care for approximately 300-400 patients, serving 900+ in the first year of the program, and this number will grow as more doctors graduate from the program.

For Dr. Callie Krewson, a Bend native, it’s also a homecoming.

"It's been really great to kind of expand my horizons in a place that I know well, but with a group of people that I don't know as well," said Krewson.

Residents spent their first year training at OHSU before returning to Jefferson County for hands-on experience in family medicine, emergency care, hospital medicine, and more.

"They're learning everything they need to know to be in a rural environment and provide really broad spectrum care to their patients," Rural Track Program Director Jinnell Lewis said. "So it's an exciting opportunity to get to work in our ER. They also get to work in our family birthing center delivering babies here in Madras."

Both trained in Portland and say the biggest change from city to small town is access to specialists.

"In rural settings, often specialists are much less available. So there's a different focus on doing as much as you can in this setting and then relying on specialists in different ways," Krewson said.

Their schedules can stretch overnight, with the residents catching rest in their headquarters at the hospital.

“We do sleep in the hospital. Not every night. I actually try to go home and catch sleep in my own bed. But there are times that we're on call for 24 hours," Dr. Ben Khalil said.

Program Director Jinnell Lewis says the need for more physicians is urgent, not only in Jefferson County, but across Oregon.

"In Oregon, we have had a shortage of over 100 primary care physicians in the state alone," RTP Director Jinnell Lewis said. "In Jefferson County, our ratios of primary care provider to the number of patients is way above the expected levels."

This shortage can lead to patients driving long distances for care or visiting the emergency room with routine concerns. Long wait times can also make health problems worse or cause patients to forego care all together. 

According to the St. Charles Foundation, research shows about 55% of physicians remain near where they complete residency. That means the Three Sisters Rural Track Program could add more than 20 new doctors over the next decade, providing care for 20,000 to 40,000 Central Oregonians.

Khalil says the welcome they’ve received in Jefferson County has made the transition easier.

“Everyone here has been so excited for us to be here, and that’s made things easy," Khalil said.

You can show your support for the Three Sisters Rural Track Program with a donation through the St. Charles Foundation website.