By Dustin Summers, West Tennessee Physicians' Alliance Executive Director

If you are reading this, chances are you or someone you love is sick. You are probably sitting in the waiting room of a doctor’s office passing the time surrounded by an assortment of other sick people and out-of-date magazines.

You’ve probably resigned yourself to what you think will happen next — being ushered into an exam room where you’ll do more waiting, eventually pleading your case to an over-stressed physician who will breeze through the door and anxiously scribble notes for five, maybe 10, minutes before bombarding you with information.

Yet, in the end, you’ll leave with more questions than answers, more anxiety than comfort. You’ll be uneasy, you’ll be confused, and you’ll still, more than likely, be sick.

This is what many of us have been conditioned to expect from a doctor’s visit — hurriedness, chaos and inefficiency. From individual experiences at a hospital or clinic to the national debate surrounding the Affordable Care Act, health care has perhaps never been so confusing, so cumbersome or so difficult to navigate.

However, my hope is that you come to expect an altogether different experience when you visit any of the doctors or clinics of the West Tennessee Physicians’ Alliance (WTPA).

Our goal is to change that perception, to change that experience, and to deliver affordable quality care in the city of Jackson and the surrounding counties of West Tennessee. Comprised of more than 100 physicians practicing in 27 medical specialties at 35 clinics in Madison County, the WTPA represents the full spectrum of health care coverage.

As health care continues to change, we are committed to finding innovative ways to deliver affordable, quality care in Jackson — not Nashville, not Memphis, but right here at home.

I grew up in Paris, Tenn., and Jackson was always the place we went for our Christmas presents, for our biggest baseball games, and, when necessary, for our medical care. Many other communities in West Tennessee view Jackson in a similar light. If you ever doubt the health care resources that are available right here in Madison County, simply take a trip to Walmart or Applebee’s or Kroger and count the number of individuals you see wearing medical scrubs.

We are rich in terms of health care capacity and resources, and I hope that you will turn to one of our physicians when you or a member of your family needs care for a sore throat or a sprained ankle or any other injury or illness.

The uncertainty that currently envelops the health care world creates opportunities for growth, for improvement and for adaption that will serve to improve the individual and collective health care experience.

I believe that the WTPA is capable of serving as a health care leader in our region and throughout the state of Tennessee. The strength of our organization lies in the individual clinics and physicians that comprise the WTPA.

If you are in need of medical care, we hope that you will visit us soon. If you are already here, seated in one of our waiting rooms, surrounded by our not-so-out-of-date periodicals, I hope that your experience is indicative of what the future of health care holds.