Vermont is continuing to lose its primary care physicians, according to a recent survey from the state’s department of health. While officials note that the rate of loss is slowing, the numbers tell a sobering story. In 2024, there were 529 primary care providers practicing in the state, down from 569 in 2022 and significantly lower than the 634 reported back in 2004. Health Commissioner Dr. Rick Hildebrant admitted that these findings aren’t shocking to those in the field, noting that previous efforts to reverse this downward trend have simply not happened fast enough.
Beyond the shrinking headcount, those remaining in primary care are working fewer hours. Current data suggests that only 39 percent of Vermont’s primary care doctors work full time, leaving the state with the equivalent of just 402 full-time clinicians. This decline comes at a time when specialized medicine—including fields like orthopedics and anesthesiology—is seeing steady growth. Experts warn that this imbalance creates a dangerous gap for patients who rely on long term relationships with a single provider to coordinate their care and prevent costly emergency room visits.
Many Vermonters already feel this void through grueling wait times for appointments or a total inability to find clinics accepting new patients. While some argue that Vermont actually maintains a higher per capita number of providers than many other states, others suggest the issue isn’t just about raw numbers but rather structural problems in how care is delivered. There is also a noticeable shift toward hospitalist roles, where doctors focus solely on inpatients rather than balancing clinic visits with hospital rounds as they once did.
This local crisis mirrors a broader national shortage affecting rural areas across the United States. As regular checkups become harder to schedule, medical advocates worry that more residents are defaulting to emergency departments for routine issues. Lawmakers such as Senator Ginny Lyons hope current census data will provide a roadmap for improving geographic distribution and finding the ideal ratio of doctors to patients to ensure no region of the state is left behind.
