Islanders seem to voice the complaint nearly as often as they grumble about summer traffic backups at the blinker light and spiking prices at the gas pump:
You can’t find a primary care doctor on the Island.
Health and human service agencies on the Vineyard are already feeling the effects of severe state budget cuts made last week by Gov. Deval Patrick and are bracing for more in the months ahead.
State funding to Family Planning of Martha’s Vineyard and Martha’s Vineyard Community Services was slashed in the cuts, while directors at the Island Health Care Rural Clinic in Edgartown and the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital were busy this week preparing for spending and hiring freezes.
Elizabeth A. Moriarty, nurse practitioner, and Dr. Richard F. Sullivan have joined the Island Health Care rural health clinic in Edgartown.
Ms. Moriarty started in May, coming from Hampden County Physician Associates in western Massachusetts. Dr. Sullivan takes over as Medical Director for Dr. John Lamb, who served in that capacity for over five years and will now be operating solely out of his practice at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital.
Island Health Care in Edgartown has received a $102,180.26 grant from the Patrick-Murray Administration. It is one of 27 hospitals and community health centers throughout Massachusetts to receive a total of $3 million in infrastructure and capacity-building funds. The money is intended to enhance global payment system transitions, expand access and form patient-centered medical homes for populations in need.
