Early this month, a Washington, D.C., newspaper claimed 60,000 primary care physicians (PCPs) could be forced to close their practices by the end of June. That’s almost 29 percent of the 209,000 PCPs in the United States. PCPs are your family practitioners, general internists and pediatricians.

Healthcare has changed over the past two decades, but the present pandemic will send shockwaves through the medical field. The ramifications are unknown but certainly will be detrimental to all patients.

Why would this happen? Doctors in private practice must pay rent, staff salaries, malpractice and utilities to run an efficient office. With the pandemic, many offices have seen few patients for fear of contamination. Even with telemedicine, income has markedly decreased, threatening permanent office closure.

Is anyone worried about this potential loss? No. Why? Because independent private practice is not the direction where scheming, profit-seeking hospitals and insurance companies want our nation to go. They certainly will not allow anyone to throw these physicians a lifeline even though patients will suffer.

These hospitals and insurance companies (including HMOs) will absorb these physicians to control their medical decision making, augmenting profits.

Please put this problem on your radar, STAT.

Gene Uzawa Dorio, M.D., is a geriatric house-call physician who serves as president of the Los Angeles County Commission for Older Adults and Assemblyman to the California Senior Legislature. He has practiced in the Santa Clarita Valley for 32 years.