You said, " Any doctor booked up 6 months is a doctor taking on too many patients." In reality, in group and clinical practices, the doctors have little or no control over the number of patients they have. The practice director decides. They also determine the amount of time allotted to each patient, often at the demand of insurers or the corporation that owns the clinic. Doctors become overwhelmed and those can afford to leave, causing even more scarcity. Or they, become chronically overworked, their own health fails, and they retire earlier than planned. We have personal friends in both categories.

And in many areas, there may be only one (or in many cases, none) group, clinic or doc. Many rural areas in this country have less than one doctor per county - some are lucky to have a nurse practitioner a few days a week. Specialists are even more scarce outside urban areas, so they feel even more pressure to see everyone that they can. Unfortunately, new patients, unless referred by another doctor or hospital for an urgent or life-threatening situation, go to the back of the line.

This is a fact of health care in the modern world, not just in a few cities or states. It is true in Canada and Europe as well. We have had Canadian friends who waited as long as a year for "elective" hip or knee replacement surgery - when you are in pain, it doesn't feel elective!
Our cousin in Europe had to wait one year for an appointment for hand surgery. She will not be allowed to schedule therapy until after the operation. It should begin at 6 weeks, but the wait will be more like 6 months.

So there is a shortage of care everywhere. And of care providers - from nursing assistants to nurses, to ER docs, to surgeons. The pressures and working conditions are brutal.

My daughters are school nurses in an urban setting each serving over 1200 students but think of them as a cross between Mom with ice packs and bandaids, Urgent Care for those without insurance, an ER for the inevitable teen fights, drugs and sports injuries, and a Case Manager for kids coming to school with complex medical conditions. All in 8 hours a day without a backup staff or overtime pay. They are chronically unable to fill 25% of the jobs in that district - wonder why?

Sue

Same with my gastroenterologist, I had to reschedule a follow up appt for last week, and now they won’t see me until Jan 2024.
That’s totally ridiculous in my eyes, especially if you’ve had tests done, and haven’t gotten follow up to discuss with the doctor.
I’m asked to be put on cancellation list and I was told that list is 3 pages long.