NATCHEZ — Adams County, Concordia Parish and Southwest Mississippi need 84 more doctors, Natchez Regional Medical Center CEO Scott Phillips says.

The area is medically understaffed and, either as a cause or an effect, a high number of local residents leave the area for healthcare every day.

And when those residents hit the highways for healthcare, they take a massive amount of money with them.

In fact, the local healthcare industry is losing millions, Phillips said.

Phillips said in Adams County, the four contiguous counties and in Concordia Parish there are approximately 88 doctors.

He said the area — about 57,000 people — should have approximately 172 physicians.

The shortage of doctors in the area is not uncommon for an area the size of this one, Phillips said.

“Statistically it looks like a very rural area,” he said.

And that shortage of doctors translates to a shortage of dollars.

Phillips said approximately $50 million in procedures are being done outside of the county.

“That’s a significant loss,” he said.

And Phillips is not the only one to see the shortfall.

Natchez Community Hospital’s CEO Tim Trottier said studies done by his hospital have also shown a greater demand for physicians.

And those who are not getting the care they need in the county are leaving the county.

But Trottier said having the necessary amount of doctors in the community means making sure there is a necessary base to pay those doctors.

Phillips said that one study revealed 48 percent of Adams County residents whose care was billed to Medicare was billed for treatment actually given outside of Adams County.

Phillips also said approximately 50 percent of the population needing neurology and cardiology care left the county for treatment.

And those types of procedures are three times more profitable to hospitals than day-to-day medical care.

“Adams County is an under served area,” he said.

And in turn, the population is traveling to places like Jackson, Baton Rouge, McComb and even New Orleans for treatment.

And while the value of procedures done outside of the county is tremendous, Phillips said having the necessary amount of doctors in the area would have a terrific impact on the local economy.

Phillips said if the area had the 84 more necessary doctors those doctors would have to hire staff and boost the economy in turn.

“Eighty-four doctors is hundreds of jobs for an area,” he said.

NRMC’s Vice-President of Medical Affairs Dr. Kenneth Stubbs said the lack of doctors is not difficult to see.

In Natchez he said there is one urologist — on staff at Natchez Community — and only one cardiologist — who staffs both Community and Regional.

Stubbs said while some procedures, like brain surgery, won’t likely ever be done in the community, having more urologists to perform prostate surgeries would be a major benefit to the area and would slow the rush of dollars leaving town.

Stubbs also said Regional has a state-of-the-art catheter lab that is largely under utilized because there is only one cardiologist.

And while hospital and county officials are moving forward on plans that would ultimately sell the hospital, Phillips is banking on that sale to help change the physician shortage.

Both Phillips and Stubbs said a large hospital system, like the one that will be necessary to purchase NRMC, will have a wider staff of doctors to draw from and assign to an area like Natchez.

However Natchez Community Hospital is part of a lager hospital system, HMA, and Trottier said he has never seen a large hospital system with a pool of doctors from which to hire.

Stubbs said while there is no quick fix to the problem it is fixable.

“It’s just going to take time,” he said.