Experts say the health care reform law signed last week by President Obama could heighten the demand for doctors in Maine.
The Maine Sunday Telegram says the new law means about 140,000 people in Maine will soon be more likely to see a primary care doctor rather than waiting until they're sick enough for the emergency room.
But Maine is already in need of more primary care doctors and the shortage is expected to get worse as baby boomers age.
Marc Hahn, dean of the University of New England's College of Osteopathic Medicine, says there are about 100 unfilled openings for primary care physicians in the state now.
Elisabeth Mock, a family doctor from Holden and president of the Maine Academy of Family Physicians, says it's not unusual to have a three- to six-month wait if a practice is accepting new patients at all.
