Butler Memorial Hospital founding residency director Dr. Joseph Dougherty, right, and vice president of medical education Dr. Michael Fiorina discuss the hospital's plan for a residency program Wednesday. The target start for the program is set for July 2023.

About 40% of physicians locally are within 10 years of retirement age.

The aging population of Western Pennsylvania has contributed to more patients needing medical care over the years as well, which could lead to a future gap in care in the coming years, according to Dr. Michael Fiorina, vice president of medical education at Butler Health System.

To combat the future potential of a physician shortage, BHS is starting a residency program for family medicine, which will bring future medical practitioners to the health system to get experience in the field and provide an extra set of hands.

“We already have a lack of physicians, and now we're going to have a mass exodus — we can either be proactive or reactive,” Fiorina said. “If we can attract high-quality physicians to this area for training ... if we can give them a good experience in this area, they're more likely to stay in this region and help with this lack of access.”

Read more in Thursday's Butler Eagle.