“The shortage is related to primary care,” Shalala tells NPR’s Scott Simon. “We have lots of specialists in the country. We’ll need more primary care physicians.”
Shalala, now president of the University of Miami, says there will be opportunities for nurses to take on a larger role in offering primary care.
“With all the advanced-practice nurses that we have in this country and more to be trained, there is a special role for nurses in our expansion of health care for all,” she says.