Marquette-Alger County
Medical Society
(a component of the Michigan
State Medical Society)
P.O. Box 68
Marquette, Michigan 49855
Phone: 906-226-6200
FAX: 906-226-2600
email: mary@mtazone.com

Copyright © 2008
Marquette-Alger County
Medical Society,
All rights reserved

There was a time when HIV/AIDS was a new issue and bioterrorism sounded like a term from a science fiction novel. Dr. Randall Johnson saw these developments and more during his time as Health Officer and Medical Director of the Marquette County Health Department.

Johnson recently announced “with mixed emotions” that he is retiring on June 30. In his 27 years with the health department, Johnson has had the opportunity to address major health issues that have affected the county as well as the nation.

Johnson said he can remember when the Center for Disease Control announced the first case of HIV/AIDS in May 1981. Since then, he has seen it go from a misunderstood stigma to a worldwide epidemic disease.

He also has been there to witness the very recent surfacing of bioterrorism.

“Bioterrorism was not even on the agenda 10 years ago,” he said. “But since 9/11, health departments have spent a lot of time preparing.”

These types of events are what has kept Johnson’s job interesting for the last 27 years, he said.

“There is no day that I come into work and know exactly what I’ll be doing,” he said.

Johnson said he hopes to come back and take the part-time medical director position. He also would like to spend time traveling and perhaps taking classes at Northern Michigan University.

The Marquette County Board will now begin the administrative process of replacing Johnson. During the board’s regular meeting Tuesday, county staff and board said they would hire a person for each position. Johnson is one of only two people in the state of Michigan that is able to serve in both positions. The board said hiring two people — one full-time health officer and one part-time medical director — would save money.

The board of health will attempt to find a new health officer within. Johnson said there are several qualified and experienced people at the health department who could take the job.

“I hope the health department will have the continuity of having a health officer who has been on staff,” he said.

Johnson said he is glad to have had the opportunity to do what he loves in his hometown.

“It’s been an enjoyable career,” he said. “Doing what I want to do where I want to do it.”

By Christopher F. Palombo, MCAC Executive Director

As Executive Director of a community healthcare collaborative, I often get to enjoy stories about changed lives. I regularly hear of situations in which the Marquette healthcare community makes an enormous difference in the life of another low-income uninsured resident through the Medical Access Program-Plan C (MAP-C) volunteer program. These stories always begin in different locations... a needed diagnostic service donated by our hospitals, a key visit with a clinic volunteer, a needed referral to a willing specialist, a much awaited visit to a local volunteer dentist, or care given in-office at one of our primary care practices. The result is always similar. A person who is not otherwise able to access healthcare services receives care though local volunteers, and a life sustaining effect takes place.

The value of your dedicated volunteerism can be conveyed in many ways, including by the stories of the persons whose lives you have touched. Thank you Marquette County physicians!

With that important note stated, there will be three major items reported by MCAC at the April 5th, Marquette Alger Medical Society Meeting. First off is an exciting early analysis of the 2004 primary care and specialist usage amounts. MCAC has seen an expected decreasing trend in usage of the volunteer program. MAP-C patient utilization in 2004 was an average of 1.95 visits per primary care patient per year. This is a decrease from an average of 3.03 visits per primary care patient in 2003. More study in upcoming years should help clarify why the decrease has taken place, however one explanation is that a now healthier low-income uninsured population is able to use their primary care access at a lower rate than in years past. In a similar fashion, specialist referrals have decreased from an average of 6.05 per specialist per year in 2003 to an average of 3 per specialist per year in 2004 (with specialist participation remaining fairly constant and patient enrollment increasing 16%). The MAP-C program is still fairly new in Marquette County and the reasons for the decrease merit further study; however, this is a positive change to see and it mirrors usage trends of other access programs in the nation.

The next item to be reported will be the announcement of a planned expansion of the MCAC Volunteer Clinic Program. With the MAP-C volunteer program’s present in-office capacity being about 450-500 patents, MCAC first saturated its maximum capacity in early 2003. To address this, MCAC launched our volunteer evening clinics in the Occupational Medicine Office of the Peninsula Medical Center and in the Tobin Medical Building.

Today, MCAC’s enrollment is approaching 700 persons with over 210 being assigned to the volunteer clinic. Our primary care capacity is again near its saturation point. MCAC is today looking to expand our volunteer clinic capacity to ensure expanded access to healthcare for Marquette’s uninsured low income residents. To accommodate the schedules and travel preferences of our providers, MCAC will be offering clinic sites in Sawyer, Ishpeming, and in Marquette. Ishpeming and Sawyer will be donating space for evening clinic sites. The Marquette location will be available for operation per the schedule of our volunteers at any time in the workday, any workday of the week. It is hoped that the increased flexibility in location and schedule will attract a greater number of volunteer physicians and mid-level providers and lead to continued enrollment into the MAP-C program.

The third item to report will be the growth of access programs in the other 14 counties of the Upper Peninsula. In years past, I regularly received calls from UP providers about MCAC’s volunteer healthcare program. Today and due to ongoing interest among physicians and hospital administration, there are Access Coalitions serving Houghton, Keweenaw, Dickinson, Iron, and Chippewa County residents. In the planning stage are programs that will soon serve Delta, Menominee, Schoolcraft, Mackinac, Luce, Alger, Baraga, Ontonagon, and Gogebic Counties. Providers and community leaders across the Upper Peninsula are working together to develop volunteer healthcare referral programs to care for their low-income uninsured. Now that is exciting!

The Marquette County Healthcare Community is to be commended for their dedication and investment into the Medical Access Program-Plan C. It is the commitment you have shown toward your low-income uninsured patients that has fueled exciting expansion across the region, and expansion within Marquette County’s MAP-C Program. Thank you!