Name & occupation: Greg Murphy, M.D. – Representative for North Carolina’s 3rd Congressional District
Previous Positions held: Former President of Eastern Urological Associates in Greenville and Affiliate Professor of Surgery and Chief of the Division of Urology at the ECU School of Medicine; Chief of Staff of Vidant Medical Center; Member of the North Carolina House of Representatives.
In your work as a medical missionary, what was the one medical case that had the biggest impact on you personally? I have probably traveled over 30 times overseas to provide medical relief work. However, the experience in Haiti in 2010 was by far the most influential. Tragically and indiscriminately, hundreds of thousands of lives were lost in an instant because of the earthquake. To add to the suffering of an already devastated nation, months later relief workers introduced cholera which ended up claiming tens of thousands more lives. As was the custom every morning at 7am, the priest of the mission hospital where I was working offered Mass. During the ceremony, he would honor and pray for deceased individuals who died the night before whose bodies laid in the chapel covered by a mere sheet. I will never forget the anguish of a mother, who had already lost three of her children to the earthquake, now devastated by the loss of her daughter the night before to cholera. Within hours, a healthy and joyful child was infected and died in her mother’s arms. I will never forget the cries of unparalleled anguish from that poor mother. I could express a lot more happier stories, but I think this one teaches us a lesson. The joy we all experience should never be taken for granted. At some point, we will all become patients. It is an honor to help those, especially when they are so desperate in need.
You’re Co-Chair of the GOP Doctors Caucus. What’s your top priority that you’re hoping the group can accomplish this congress? The GOP Doctors Caucus built great influence in the Republican Conference and in DC during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our goal is to continue working with our colleagues to effectuate meaningful change that will improve access to affordable, high-quality care and lower drugs costs for patients across the country. We are composed of 14 members with real-world experience, eager to deliver solutions to the challenges facing American health care.
How does your background as a doctor shape the way you approach your job on Capitol Hill? As a surgeon, I have little patience for time wasted and the silliness that is sometimes politics. I am wired to act judiciously and decisively when faced with a problem. Washington needs leaders who are swift to take on challenges, averse to delay and dawdling, and driven by the satisfaction of a job well-done to benefit someone else.
Finally, what one bill or initiative would you like to see Congress pass that would make a positive difference in the lives of every Tar Heel? Reimbursements for physicians who see Medicare patients have fallen an inflation-adjusted 33% since 2001. I had to resign from my practice coming to Congress and I saw my younger partners be absorbed by the hospital because we could no longer stay alive financially. Private practice doctors are being forced to close their doors or sell out to large hospitals as a result of these devastating cuts, even though the care they provide is more personal, higher quality, and cheaper than the alternative. Rural and underserved communities in the United States are hurt most by this issue, which has been ignored with impunity for far too long. Congress must deliver a permanent fix to the Physician Fee Schedule.