Dr. Mike Gorman, of Moapa Valley Family Practice in Logandale, will be joining the Mesa View Medical Group in Mesquite on June 1.
In place of Dr. Gorman’s practice, the Mesa View Hospital will be opening a quick care clinic at the Wally’s Plaza, Logandale location. The clinic will have expanded hours with nurse practitioners seeing patients from 8 a.m. til 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Dr. Gorman will be serving as the medical director of the quick care clinic, according to hospital officials.
“It will be similar to our Mesa View Quick Care facility in Mesquite,” said hospital marketing director Rob Fuller. “It will be walk-in care and you won’t need an appointment.”
But one problem for some local patients may be insurance. There may be some health plans currently accepted by Dr. Gorman that are not currently accepted by Mesa View Medical. One of these is currently HealthPlan of Nevada.
“Currently, the Mesa View Medical Group, as well as the Quick Care which will be opening there, is not supported by HealthPlan of Nevada,” Fuller said. “That being said, we are in ongoing conversations with various HMO organizations and trying to work something out.”
Fuller said that the best bet for local patients is to call Mesa View Medical to discuss the specifics of their own health plan.
Gorman said that he had no choice but to make the major change. “It was due to simply being overrun by large corporate health insurance companies,” Gorman explained. “It used to be that Medicare was our biggest challenge, but now it’s the private insurance companies that want to pay us less and less and in an untimely manner.”
Gorman also explains that some private insurance companies were “downcoding” his charges. This means that they were paying him less than the contracted rates.
In January, Gorman was featured in a CNNMoney.com article titled “Doctors Living on Loans”. The article pointed out a national trend in which doctors across the country have had to borrow money to keep their practices afloat. Gorman, himself, had to take out a $30,000 SBA loan to pay his overhead expenses over the past several months.
“I simply cannot afford to continue borrowing money under these circumstances,” Gorman said.
Fuller said that this situation is not uncommon across the healthcare industry in the U.S.
“Nationwide we are seeing that smaller family practices are struggling,” Fuller said. “A lot of that is a result of Medicare reimbursements declining. So these types of quick care facilities have become more and more popular. They are more convenient at times when you don’t need an emergency room but don’t want to wait days for an appointment.”
“The Moapa Valley communities are a part of our service area,” Fuller continued. “We are trying to make sure that health care services are provided there and we want to keep a portal open to Moapa Valley residents to get the care they need.”
Gorman said that the decision to close the Moapa Valley Family Practice has been a heartwrenching one for him.
“I have thoroughly enjoyed my practice and I hope that the majority of my patients will continue to see me in Mesquite,” he said.
Patients wishing to make appointments with Dr. Gorman or seeking information on insurance plans can contact Mesa View Medical Group to confirm insurance coverage at 702-346-0800.
