Meeting the need of a rural state for primary care physicians: a health care reform challenge.

Access to vital health care services is currently unavailable to many of Kentucky’s estimated 671 434 uninsured in 20091 and inadequate for many more currently covered by health insurance. A sufficient number of physicians of all specialties, especially primary care, are necessary to ensure that appropriate care is available. On the basis of a 2007 study by the Kentucky Institute of Medicine,2 Kentucky has a shortage of physicians that is likely to worsen unless appropriate action is taken. The Kentucky Institute of Medicine reported that the State ranked 32nd nationally among states in a physician-to-population ratio of all active physicians,