Earlier this year, the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced a nearly $60 million investment in rural health care communities. According to recent research, about 20% of Americans live in a rural area, but only about 10% of the country’s physicians are located in a rural area.
Rural Public Health Workforce Training Network
Roughly $46 million in funding will support 31 awardees who plan to expand health care capacity in rural and tribal communities through health care job development, training, and placement. This includes support for critical health workforce needs in rural areas, including dental hygienists, medical assistants, dental assistants, community-based doulas, and other frontline health care workers.
The Rural Public Health Workforce Training Network aims to increase rural workforce capacity in the health care industry as well as address recruiting and retention issues by improving job quality.
Rural Residency Planning and Development Program
Another $10 million will go to support 13 different organizations through the Rural Residency Planning and Development Program. The organizations will establish new medical residency programs in rural communities, to increase the number of physicians training in rural settings.
Many of the awards for 2022 (and prior years) go towards family medicine residents. Each of the 13 recipients will receive roughly $750,000.
Small Health Care Provider Quality Improvement Program
$2.9 million will go towards 15 awards to improve patient health outcomes as well as the quality and delivery of care in primary care settings throughout rural counties.
The fifteen awardees will receive a total of $11.3 million over the course of the three-year program. Of the recipients, two are in California, three are in Arkansas, two are in New York, and one in each of the following states: Idaho, New Mexico, Washington, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Wisconsin, and Colorado.
Rural Veterans Health Access Program
The Rural Veterans Health Access Program is the final piece to the puzzle, awarding nearly $1 million to three organizations focused on improving access to health care services for veterans in rural areas. The three organizations receiving 2022 awards are the University of Kentucky Research Foundation, Michigan Center for Rural Health, and the Oklahoma State University.
Conclusion
“Among the most important steps we can take to improve access to health care in rural communities, including access to behavioral health care, is to invest in growing the rural health care workforce,” said Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Administrator Carole Johnson. “Today’s announcements are another important part of the Health Resources and Services Administration’s strategy to advance health equity for the nearly 65 million people who call rural areas home.”
A full list of awards included in the $60 million can be found here.