The $ 100 million investment goals are aimed at alleviating the shortage of health workers


By Robert Preid and Robin Foster
HealthDay reporter

FRIDAY, Oct. 15, 2021 (HealthDay News) – The National Health Service Corps will receive $ 100 million to help address the shortage of health workers in the United States, the White House said Thursday.

This is a fivefold increase in funding from previous years for a program that helps find primary care physicians for communities struggling to hire and retain them, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, NBC News reported.

In return for several years of care in areas where there are no health care providers, doctors are offered to repay loans and scholarships.

“COVID has caused a laser focus on the obvious gaps and dysfunction of the entire American health care system,” said Tenner Veenema, a scientist focused on the workforce problems at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security. NBC News. “Investing in the redistribution of healthcare providers in rural, low-resource areas is so important because we know how much they suffer from a lack of access to good healthcare.”

The latest statistics confirm this: The United States lost 17,500 health workers in September and 524,000 since the start of the pandemic, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

“Whether you’re in rural America or part of low-income America, that shouldn’t be a reason you don’t have access to quality health care,” said U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Bessera. NBC News. “And that’s why we want to help countries that will try to do their best to keep this public health workforce in these rural communities, these low-income communities, where people need them.”

States will be able to apply for grants by April, and HHS predicts it will award up to 50 prizes of up to $ 1 million a year for four years.

“With these funds, states can develop programs that optimize the choice of disciplines and places of service, and adjust service engagement commitments to address the areas of greatest need in their communities,” said Diana Espinosa, temporarily. the acting administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration, who runs the program, said NBC News. “This investment will have a huge impact on access to primary care and overcoming disparities in health care at a critical time.”

The project does not start until September 2022, so it will not have an immediate effect on the shortage of health workers, but will help in the long run, NBC News reported.

More info

Visit the American Association of Nursing Colleges for more information on the shortage of nurses.

SOURCE: NBC News



Source link

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.