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Kevin Grumbach, MD, has provided us with a clear-eyed view of our brutal current reality, our prior failures to improve our lot, and our need to pivot toward & embrace our patients and communities as allies in overcoming decades of discrimination and under-resourcing of family & primary care. In truth, we are not serving our patients and communities well by allowing powerful players to reduce investment in primary care while unleashing rhetorical flourishes about the value of advanced primary care. We have re-packaged team-based primary care in so many ways over the decades---yet most practices likely have fewer other professionals working in them than we did in the 1980's as reimbursement shrinks and productivity demands increase with only the primary care physician's actions leading to reimbursement in most instances.
We are clearly at the Midnight hour as Martin Luther King, Jr taught us...the hour of darkness, confusion, doubt, and despair. Yet MLK also taught us that it is only in darkness that the stars can be seen. He also made clear that it is darkest just before the dawn---that when our doubts and fears are greatest, next comes the rising sun for us to begin again.
Dr. Grumbach has provided us with a new vision of counterculture professionalism---a collective call to action to forge a new pathway and relationship with our patients and communities...not just as those we seek to serve, but as impactful and inspiring allies seeking health equity and access to high-quality, team-based primary care for each and every person across our vast and wealthy nation.
Thank you Dr. Grumbach and thanks to Annals for publishing !