Super-Commuters
A “long commute” once meant 60 minutes of drive time or a long haul on public transit from the suburbs to city centers. That definition has changed quite a bit as the nation’s workforce becomes more mobile.
Take, for instance, hospitalist Yun Namkung, MD, who lives in Queens, N.Y., but works at Leflore Hospital, a 248-bed regional medical center in Greenwood, Miss., about 130 miles south of Memphis. “I’m something called a ‘firefighter’ within the company,” says Dr. Namkung, who’s been traveling long distances to work for his employer, Brentwood, Tenn.-based Cogent-HMG.
Dr. Namkung’s first long-distance commute was an interim assignment: He was an HMG program director in upstate New York anticipating a move to California. The move didn’t materialize, and now, after two years as a “super-commuter,” he says, “Traveling is actually fulfilling. You get to meet different people and supporting staff. You get exposed to a variety of patients, so clinically, you get better. I think I can continue to do this for a while.”
Super-commuters go by various names and monikers—“firefighters,” “travelers,” “vagabonds”—but they share a common reality: one or two weeks a month, and in some cases every week, they’re traveling long distances from home to work. And while it might not be for every hospitalist, this mega-commute phenomenon has pros and cons, hidden costs, and unexpected perks.
Just before I leave for an assignment, my wife’s ready to see me go. And then, when I come home, she’s anxious for me to be there, so it’s sort of like a honeymoon once a month for both of us.
—Charles Barnett, MD, Knoxville, Tenn.
An Upward Trend?
Transportation policy consultant Alan E. Pisarski, author of “Commuting in America (Vols. 1-3),” often testifies before Congress on transportation issues for policy planning and investment requirements. The third volume of his “Commuting in America” series, published in 2006, found that the number of workers with commutes of more than 60 minutes increased almost 50% from 1990 to 2000.1 That duration probably rose even more following the economic downturn that began in 2008, he says, as the notion of an “acceptable” commute changes when the job market is tight.
The long-distance commuting trend is likely to increase, he says, because highly skilled workers (e.g. physicians) are in short supply. In our mobile society, he adds, “professionals are more willing to accept long distance separation from their families, on at least some kind of scheduled basis.”
In addition, as millions of baby boomers retire, replacing their skill sets is proving difficult. Companies are trying to hold boomers in the labor force longer, offering attractive perks so that they will stay.
Many jobs, even in a telecommuting society, still require in-person deliveries. And for some, super-commuting is a better alternative to relocation. For others, it might be the only alternative, given the poor housing market. That’s the way Anthony Venturato sees it.
“In my business, [we] have to be where the project is,” says Venturato, a project manager for passenger rail projects for STV Inc., a leading architectural, engineering, and construction management firm. “We have virtual meeting rooms, but we’ve got a long way to go before working closely together and being physically far away are equivalent—like that great scene in “Star Wars” where holograms of ‘attendees’ were interacting around a conference table. To run a project, at least in the early 21st century, you’ve gotta be there.” (see “Nomadic Lifestyle Works for Some,”)
—Yun Namkung, MD, Queens, N.Y.
