Good morning, Broadsheet readers! House Democrats choose Nancy Pelosi's successor, Apollo cofounder Leon Black faces rape allegations, and a female-founded health tech startup is transforming physician referrals.
- 26 days. That’s how long it takes patients in major U.S. cities to get an appointment with a specialist physician. In some rural states, that delay is even longer. In Vermont, the wait for a specialist can take up to 61 days.
Kelsey Mellard, founder and CEO of the telehealth startup Sitka, thinks she has a solution. The platform connects primary care physicians (PCPs) with specialists. A patient experiencing an issue their PCP isn't equipped to address can receive treatment from a specialist in a matter of hours instead of waiting weeks to see the same provider.
