Success Story: Meet Dr. Duncan

Meet Dr. Braxton Duncan, Emergency Physician, Uintah Basin Healthcare:

“I was born and raised in Eastern Utah. I hope to continue providing medical services for years to come in Eastern Utah.” -Dr. Duncan

Here are a few things about my Dr. Duncan’s life as a rural provider:

  • “As an emergency medicine physician, I have provided emergency care in a single-coverage setting at a remote Level IV trauma center in Vernal, Utah.”
  • “My service in Uintah County provides access to emergency medical care for 15,000-20,000 residents of Vernal and surrounding communities.”
  • “I provide services during business hours and throughout the night being readily available to medically treat, stabilize, admit, or transfer patients to the local hospital or to tertiary hospitals along the Wasatch Front.”
  • “Much of my patient volume is providing care to underserved populations including uninsured, underinsured, and Medicaid patients. Additionally, a significant portion of my patient practice is providing care to Ute Indian Tribal members. A typical observation, admission, and transfer rate across the reporting period is 20-25%.”
  • “My provided services include simple medication refills, wound care, laceration repair, injury assessment, fracture care, splinting, chronic pain management, abdominal pain, chest pain, etc.”
  • “I have a breadth of practice due to lack of local specialist physicians, and my work includes assessment and treatment regarding surgical pathologies, significant traumatic injuries, complex neurologic conditions, both acute and chronic, the critical resuscitation of shock, heart failure, myocardial infarction, cardiac arrest, acute respiratory failure, sepsis, overdose, seizure, etc. I provide numerous interventional procedures including intubation, sedation, dislocation/fracture reduction, central venous access line placement, arterial line placement, thoracentesis, paracentesis, tube thoracotomies, etc.”

“Dr. Duncan will play a significant role in setting up the new department, creating policies and procedures, and recruiting additional physicians and staff.”– Unitah Basin Healthcare