What kind of wildly misinformed ........ is this? Next time you go to an emergency room then I trust you'll skip being seen by the doctor and be content with a paramedic?

If you said paramedics were underappreciated and underpaid, I'm with you 100%. But it's abundantly clear you have no idea the scope and depth of training that a physician actually provides in an acute resuscitation.

On topic for OP, could you just hire a locum and take the travel? It sounds like you deserve a break anyway. Kudos to you for standing by your community.