As the rancorous debates to reduce the deficit continue in our nation's Capitol, it is imperative that funding to help cover the costs of training future doctors be preserved.

With a current and projected shortfall in physicians, cutting federal dollars that reimburse hospitals like Barnes-Jewish, as well as 26 other teaching hospitals in Missouri, for some of their costs incurred in training medical residents would be bad public policy. With fewer dollars, the number of physicians who are trained will have to be reduced, and that will have a significant impact on patients' access to care.

Ensuring a pipeline of well-trained doctors is not a partisan issue; it is an issue that should matter to all of us. Whether we are seeking care for our parents, our children or ourselves, having access to a doctor to help us manage our health is crucial. As the head of BJC HealthCare, I know firsthand the importance of the partnership between academic medical centers and the federal government in training physicians. At Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine, this partnership supports approximately 800 medical residents and fellows each year. 

In the St. Louis area, as in the rest of the country, demand for medical services is growing faster than the supply of physicians. And, in a community like ours, without a public hospital, School of Medicine faculty physicians and medical residents are among the providers who care for uninsured and underinsured patients. Therefore, reduced funding for graduate medical education will significantly impact our community's already strained safety net.

Barnes-Jewish and other hospitals in our community that train the next generation of medical professionals sit at a crossroads where the growing demands of an aging population in need of intensive and specialized medical services intersect with the unmet medical needs of the uninsured. Many communities in Missouri and around the nation already face a growing shortage of physicians as baby boomer doctors retire at a faster rate than the pipeline can replace them.

A recent study issued by the Missouri Hospital Association reports that the ratio of primary care physicians to residents living in rural Missouri is a single doctor for every 1,776 people. The state's urban areas have a ratio of one doctor per 962 citizens. Reducing the number of trained doctors will make matters only worse for many Missourians.  

The hospital community recognizes the need to reduce the deficit and has been out front in advocating for and accepting changes that help to remedy the problem, even when those changes mean lower reimbursement for the services we provide.

Spending on Medicare and Medicaid constitutes 20 percent of the federal budget, and we understand that these programs will need to bear their fair share of the federal government belt-tightening that is needed. However, debt-reduction proposals that will reduce the number of physicians at a time when more are needed are shortsighted.

Congress should reject cuts that disproportionately affect teaching hospitals.

Steven H. Lipstein is president and CEO of BJC HealthCare in St. Louis.