GREENFIELD — Doctors John Romano and Rachel Anderson met as medical students at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School in Worcester in 2018. Seven years later, the now married couple is sticking around Greenfield as family medicine physicians.
Beginning Monday, Aug. 18, Romano and Anderson will start their careers at Baystate Family Medicine at 48 Sanderson St. after graduating from the Greenfield Family Medicine Residency Program in June, the only family medicine training program in western Massachusetts.
The two joined the program in January 2022, having been selected out of 1,000 applicants for four available spots. Since then, the couple has spent time working in multiple departments across Baystate Franklin and developed an understanding of the community’s needs, which they aim to meet as two physicians who’ve settled in Northfield.
“We’re not going anywhere. We love living here.”
Dr. John Romano
Romano and Anderson were part of the inaugural class of four family medicine residents. During their residency, both doctors had medical and teaching experiences, on top of opportunities to develop a relationship with the community and learn what makes Franklin County unique in its health care needs.
“I think what’s special about that is that program is designed to train physicians that will meet the needs of the community,” Anderson said. “I think that makes it easier to stay here afterwards, because we’re really well-equipped to deal with the needs of Franklin County. We know which specialists are hardest to get into, and have extra training in those areas of medicine, so that we can help bridge those gaps.”
In bridging these gaps, Romano said being a community-oriented doctor can entail understanding the financial status of patients who may not be able to afford specific medications, but can still be treated using other methods.
According to the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration, 18 Franklin County municipalities are designated Health Professional Shortage Areas. In these towns, there is both a shortage of primary care providers for the number of residents per municipality and for the population of low-income residents.
Given there is this shortage of providers for primary care, which includes family medicine, having Romano and Anderson stay in Greenfield means they can serve roughly 3,000 patients of all ages between the two of them. Additionally, Romano said an expansion of the Greenfield Family Medicine Residency Program can further care options for those in need.
“Our patients, I think, are really almost hesitant to engage in care, because they’ve been let down so many times by the people who promised to stay, promised to take care of them and then were gone,” Anderson said about patients’ experience of high turnover rates among their physicians.
Romano said when there are doctors available for a community, it can help residents get care sooner and avoid trips to the emergency room that can result from delayed care.
“I think a lot of the time, having a primary care doctor that you can send a message to, or if you are seen urgently by, can keep someone out of the emergency department or can help someone seek that higher level of care when they really need it,” Romano said about the value of having more primary care options in a community.
Although there is a shortage of primary care in Franklin County, Romano and Anderson are not deterred by the work ahead of them to care for patients.
“You can feel that appreciation,” Romano said. “You can provide a lot of care, and it makes your day to day a little more interesting and impactful.”