43 counties in Michigan don’t have a single neurologist, and most of those counties are in central and northern Michigan.
According to the Alzheimer's Association of Michigan, to meet the demand for Alzheimer's patients the healthcare workforce will need to increase 23-percent by 2028 and 183 percent by 2050.
Jean Barnas a program director for the Alzheimer's Association of Michigan, she says the benefits in the Michigan Essential Provider Program have expanded, like providing more student loan forgiveness, but only applies to specific physicians:
“Unfortunately, neurology was not included during the expansion. And so that's really our next step, really, working with Michigan legislators and trying to open up the program so that neurologists can get those same benefits.”
Barnas says they would also like to add geriatricians to the Essential Provider Program.
