walt copeland gets to his appointments in just a 30 minute drive.ng the trip with other errands. many parts of the country especially the real west have limited access to pulmonologist. according to telehealth and prescription discount provider good rx, more than 5 million americans are more than a one hour drive from a respiratory specialist living in pulmonologist deserts. an aging population has a higher risk of copd. then came covid-19 and the damage it can do to the lungs of those infected with the virus. burnout from the pandemic has led to pulmonologist retiring early or changing specialties. >>>> there were two really hard times. the first time was when it first came and 14 or so of us got in a room and looked at each other and wondered who is going in first because there were no vaccines. there was ppe we did not for sure if it worked or not. the second really hard time in covid was when our health care teams were exhausted from 18 months or so of grinding. there were more than enough vaccines for everyone and patient after patient after pa