By Angela H. Hill
Jeanette Filpi, administrator for Pioneer Community Hospital of Patrick, has spent more than two years looking for a new family practice physician to join Pioneer Family Medical in Stuart. The overall shortage of family practice physicians—particularly those drawn to rural medicine—has made for a challenging search, she explained.
However, to the delight of Filpi and the growing list of patients awaiting a new doctor, the search has ended.
On Dec. 5, Dr. Frank Falbo, along with Nurse Practitioner Pam Wright, will begin seeing patients at an office in the suites near the main hospital.
Falbo, his wife Sara, and their 7-year-old daughter Allison are moving to Patrick County in mid-November, and he said he can hardly wait to join the community in the slower-paced life he relished as a child. Falbo and his wife have three older children who will continue to reside in Tennessee.
“Being from West Virginia, I wanted to find something that was close to what I knew and grew up in, and I found Pioneer a viable position,” Falbo said. “I want to get back to a more idyllic lifestyle … I love all of the outdoor amenities that are offered in the county. I’m an avid trout fisher, an avid hunter; and that’s not something I’ve gotten to do being in Tennessee. It’s something I did growing up.
“I really love driving the Blue Ridge Parkway. It’s like home,” he continued. “I’m looking to slow down a little bit and enjoy life.”
Falbo has a background in family practice and in sports medicine, and underwent training at the Charleston Area Medical Center. After residency, he worked in Tennessee at an urgent care/family practice, and found he enjoyed urgent care.
Since 2000, he’s worked in emergency rooms in small and large facilities in Nashville. Falbo said when he connected with Filpi eight months ago he had already decided he was ready for something different.
“I got to missing the actual contact with the patient,” Falbo said. “I missed what happened in the follow-up care. I became very tired of night shifts and the irregular schedule, and decided it was time for a change.”
As a family practice physician, Falbo explained, he serves as a sort of gate-keeper for all types of health problems: from newborn care to senior-citizen health to acute injuries and lacerations. “I kind of do it all,” he said.
Filpi explained as well that not every physician feels comfortable in a rural setting, as Falbo does. There are no huge medical centers five minutes away. The physician must live within a reasonable distance of work due to the heavy snows here. And, the move has to be a good fit for the physician’s family.
“Rural medicine is a specialty in itself,” Filpi said. “They need to know so much. There’s a lack of mentors, and there are no specialty-care centers nearby. It can be scary [for new physicians].”
She feels like Falbo was the perfect candidate because he’s a seasoned physician with the excellent patient rapport that sets a good tone in this community. “He is going to join the families of Patrick County and fit right in.”
Falbo agreed, and said he’s up for each challenge. “In a rural setting, you’re it. You’re the one that manages the patient and all the problems. It’s very easy in a larger facility. It’s almost like turnstile medicine. If a patient has chest pain, you get a brief history and refer him to a cardiologist.
“Here, you’re going to be the one who investigates everything and may even do a stress test [before sending the patient to a specialist].”
Plus, Falbo said he thinks his approach will work well here. “I’m very personable,” Falbo said, “and I’m a straight shooter. I’m not going to fluff up and say, ‘Well, it could be this or it could be that.’ I will tell you what it is and what you should do. Some people will like that and some people won’t, but I will always tell patients what it is and I will treat them with respect.”
Both Falbo and Filpi would like to get the word out that Falbo is still working with insurance companies to increase the types of insurance he can accept. The process of getting insurance companies to credential him—that is to say, cover his services as a new provider—can take up to three additional months. Both encourage potential patients to call their providers if they would like to see Falbo but are waiting on their insurance companies to accept him.
