The Iowa Medical Society is hosting a one-day summit with more than 55 physician leaders from across the state to discuss Iowa’s physician shortage and develop priorities and recommendations to address the challenges. According to a news release, Iowa is ranked 44th in the nation for patient-to-physician ratio per 100,000 population, which is 30% worse than the national average. The effort, titled Operation Innovative Opportunities for Workforce Action (IOWA) will be held Dec. 6 in Des Moines. Operation IOWA’s co-chairs are Dr. Gerry Clancy of University of Iowa Health Care and Dr. Mike McCoy of Great River Health in West Burlington. “Every single Iowan, regardless of their address, deserves access to health care, and we’re committed to making that possible by increasing the number of physicians practicing here,” said Iowa Medical Society President Dr. Christina Taylor in a prepared statement. “We are convening some of our most trusted colleagues to think through what we can do as an organization to develop tangible action steps to help solve the physician shortage.”