HHS awards $293 million to primary healthcare clinicians and students

Last week, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) announced in a press release that it is awarding $293 million to primary healthcare clinicians and students in an effort to expand the workforce.

The awards will be given through the National Health Service Corps (NHSC) and Nurse Corps programs which provide scholarships and loan repayment services to providers in exchange for working in areas of the country where residents have limited access to healthcare. According to the press release, an estimated 13 million patients currently receive care from the more than 12,500 NHSC and Nurse Corps clinicians working across the country.

“In addition to providing essential medical and dental care, these clinicians are on the front lines helping to fight pressing public health issues, like the growing opioid epidemic,” said HRSA administrator George Sigounas, MS, PhD, in the press release. More than 3,600 of the NHSC members provide behavioral healthcare services like substance use disorder care.

The HHS awards will support the following initiatives:

• Faculty Loan Repayment Program
• National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program
• National Health Service Corps Scholarship Program
• National Health Service Corps State Loan Repayment Program
• National Health Service Corps Students to Service Loan Repayment Program
• Native Hawaiian Health Scholarship Program
• Nurse Corps Loan Repayment Program
• Nurse Corps Scholarship Program