TALBOT COUNTY, Ga. (WRBL) - According to the Rural Health Care Information Hub in 2019 more than 1.8 million Georgians lived in rural areas. Despite this, data from the US Health Resources & Services Administration shows that as of 2021, Georgia only has 100 rural health clinics.
This creates an accessibility problem for people in rural areas like Talbot County. Valley Healthcare System's Chief Medical Officer, Doctor Kimberly Brown-Gullatt says transportation is one issue rural communities face when it comes to healthcare.
"An hour away is not that far, but an hour away from your home has a lot of difficulties for people in rural communities," said Dr. Brown-Gullatt. "It means a lot of different things than it does for people living in a city.”
Valley Healthcare offers transportation to their patients who need services that are only available at their Columbus clinic, such as Valley Healthcare's OBGYN, Doctor Kamesha Harbison, said that only solves a fraction of the problem especially for her patients.
"It’s like well we have it you just have to come, but what about when she has to work, what about other children," said Dr. Harbison. "What about if she actually has to be admitted to the hospital?”
This leads to an entirely separate issue for our rural communities, women's healthcare and the Georgia maternal mortality rate. 2016 data from the Georgia ACLU, shows Georgia's Maternal Mortality rate is the worst in the country and their women's healthcare coverage was 48th in the country.
Dr. Harbison says her patients' lack of access to care often times prevents her from catching symptoms of disease or things that would contribute to pregnancy complications early. This includes things like cervical cancer, which can take up to 10 years to develop.
"If you’re living out in these little small counties, you just figure I’ll just go whenever I have time, I feel fine," said Dr. Harbison. "And then it’s not until patients actually become symptomatic, and by that point the disease process has significantly progressed.”
This is a problem that doesn't just impact rural patients seeking specialty services. Dr. Brown-Gullatt shared one of her patients was just able to come in for the first time in almost two years.
"I hadn’t seen her in almost two years. So we have to have it where the people live, they need it where they live," said Dr. Brown-Gullat. "Where it’s not only, so it’s convenient for them to get here, but it allows them to do the other things they have to do everyday.”
Both Dr. Brown-Gullatt and Dr. Harbison say educating rural communities about things like their health, things to look out for and where they can receive care is paramount for getting patients to seek and receive care.
"What if we're optimizing these women's care years before they conceive?" said Dr. Harbison. "Now you’re talking about really making a difference between the maternal morbidity and mortality rate."
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