- Ways and Means Members Put Forth Solutions to Strengthen Telehealth Access and Improve Health Care for Rural Communities
- In Rural Texas, ERs Are Facing a Growing Mental Health Crisis
- Sage Memorial Hospital in Navajo Nation Constructs New Facility to Improve Health Care
- How the State, Tribes and Federal Government Are Working to Curb SD's Syphilis Epidemic
- Rural Children Struggle to Access Hospital Services, Say Researchers
- RPHARM Program Fulfills Need for Rural Pharmacists
- A Pilot Program in Rural Vermont Hopes to Build a Blueprint for Substance Abuse Recovery
- Farmers Don't Do Mental Health
- Biden-Harris Administration Announces Critical More Than $1.5 Billion State and Tribal Opioid Response Funding Opportunities
- Outlining the Intersection between Health Care and Missing and Murdered Indigenous People
- USDA Rural Development Seeks Input to Improve Access to Grants and Help More Communities Thrive
- Rural Telehealth Extension Reintroduced in Congress
- The South Was the Center of Rural Population Growth Last Year
- Students From Across the State Emphasized the Need for Mental Health Resources in Rural Alaska During a Conference
- How HHS SUD Confidentiality Regulations Will Impact Rural Providers
Calling All Western Pennsylvania Providers: Your Help is Needed!
Are you a provider in Western Pennsylvania? Remote Area Medical® (RAM) needs your help at the upcoming clinic in Butler on November 11 and 12. The clinic will offer free dental care to underserved and uninsured individuals in the area. Volunteers are still needed to join in providing much-needed dental care to the community. Signing up to volunteer is simple – visit this link, select “Volunteer” at the top right of the page, and select “USA: Pennsylvania” and “Butler” when registering. You can also check out a video about volunteering for the upcoming Butler clinic.
Click here to watch the video.
Click here to view the volunteer flyer.
Click here for more information.
Oral Health Kids Resource Now Available in Swahili
Good news! The popular resource, “What Should Kids Drink” is now available in Swahili on the PCOH Request Materials Page!
This resource, created with the Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, is intended to help parents and guardians understand the amount of water, milk, and juice that is appropriate for young children from birth to age 5. Please note this resource has previously been translated to Spanish as well. You can order this resource and more on the PCOH Request Materials Page.
Click here to view the resource.
Click here to visit the Request Materials Page.
Input Needed: Pennsylvania Master Plan for Older Adults
The Pennsylvania Department of Aging is gathering input on Pennsylvania’s Master Plan for Older Adults, a 10-year, state-led and stakeholder-driven strategic plan designed to help transform the infrastructure and coordination of services for older Pennsylvanians. Individuals can submit input on the plan via email to AgingPlan@pa.gov or via online form.
Click here for more information.
Click here to submit input online.
FORHP Invests $11 Million to Expand Medical Residencies in Rural Communities
The Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP) awarded nearly $11 million to 15 award recipients to strengthen the rural health workforce through the Rural Residency Planning and Development (RRPD) Program. The RRPD program supports the establishment of new rural residency programs or rural track programs in family medicine, internal medicine, preventive medicine, psychiatry, general surgery, and obstetrics-gynecology. Over a three-year grant period, the award recipients will spend up to $750,000 in start-up funding to build the program infrastructure (faculty, curriculum, etc.) needed to deliver rural residency training. Based in 13 states and one U.S. territory, the new awardees include three family medicine programs with enhanced obstetrical training, our first rural preventive medicine program, and two multi-specialty programs.
The programs supported by RRPD funds allow rural communities to build a strong and sustainable rural physician workforce through a “grow-your-own” approach, preparing the next generation of physicians to learn and eventually practice in rural settings. Research has shown that physicians from a rural background and those trained in rural settings are more likely to continue practicing in rural areas after completing their residencies. This newest RRPD cohort will continue to counter persistent workforce shortages by laying and maintaining the infrastructure needed to train physicians in rural communities.
Throughout the duration of their grant, award recipients will have access to one-on-one advisor support, tools, and resources provided by the HRSA-funded RRPD Technical Assistance Center to navigate the various stages of program development. The RRPD Technical Assistance Center also has free resources for other organizations interested in rural residency programs.
These 15 new awards join the 58 organizations across 32 states and five medicine disciplines that are developing new residency programs thanks to the $43.4 million FORHP awarded between 2019 and 2022. So far, these critical investments in the rural health workforce have created 38 new accredited rural residency programs or rural track programs with approximately 503 new residency positions. Other programs are making progress towards achieving accreditation by the end of their grant period. Accredited RRPD-funded programs are already training over 300 resident physicians in family medicine, internal medicine, psychiatry, and general surgery. To learn more about what rural residency programs are doing in your states, please read the latest RRPD program summaries.
In FY 2024, FORHP anticipates investing approximately $11.25 million in RRPD awards contingent on available funding. For more information, visit the forecast on grants.gov or email RuralResidency@hrsa.gov.