Tulsa neurologist addresses reasons behind shortage

TULSA, Okla. — 2 News spoke with a Tulsa woman who was having trouble getting an appointment with a local neurologist.

He says he was referred to Oklahoma City for care. A Tulsa neurologist explains the reasons behind the shortage and what he says needs to be done.

“I have had epilepsy since I was 8 years old,” said Helen Scott.

Helen Scott, who has a new, non-cancerous brain tumor, says she needs to see a neurologist but can’t make an appointment in the city.

“That made me feel very nervous,” Scott said.

Dr. “This isn’t just a local problem in Tulsa, it’s actually a national problem,” Christopher Glisson said.

Dr. Christopher Glisson, St. He is the Medical Director of the Warren Neuroscience Institute at St. Francis Health.

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Dr. “We know that increasing age is the biggest risk factor for progressive neurodegenerative diseases, and we know that patients just get older,” Glisson said.

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He says the number of stroke patients is expected to increase by 20 percent by 2030. He says that the number of Parkinson’s patients may double by 2040, and the number of dementia patients may double by 2050.

Dr. “We know we have many more treatments for neurological diseases that really make a difference,” Glisson said. “Patients with neurological diagnoses are living longer, but the combination of those two things really increases the number of patients that need to be cared for in any given community.”

He says that in 2013, there were only six states in the entire country that had enough neurologists to meet patients’ needs. Dr. Glisson said they estimate that only 9 states have sufficient amounts this year.

He says 88 percent of states with budget deficits have a budget deficit of more than 20 percent.

Dr. “This is truly a national problem, but we are working very, very diligently here locally to try to solve this problem for our community,” Glisson said.

He says communities need to invest in more educational programs to get more medical students interested in this specialty.

“We know that if we can put medical students through rotations in neurology and even get undergraduates to learn a little bit about what neurology is and what we do, we will have more resources of neurologists coming through training programs,” Dr. Glisson. “People who grow up in a community or are trained in a particular specialty in a community are going to stay in that community to practice, so it’s very important that we continue to develop those neuroscience pipelines in Tulsa.”

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