HHS
to Award Record $89.4 Million in Scholarships, Loan Repayments
to Doctors, Clinicians, Students Who Take Jobs in Rural, Underserved
Areas
HHS Secretary
Tommy G. Thompson today announced that the National Health Service
Corps will offer a record $89.4 million in scholarship and loan
repayments to doctors and other health professions who serve in rural and inner-city areas that lack adequate access to care.
We
are looking for the best and brightest to work where they can
turn peoples lives around and provide health care to people
not used to getting it, Secretary Thompson said.
Many students go into medicine hoping to improve
the lives of the poor and the uninsured, but graduate with too
much debt to pursue such a calling. The National Health Service Corps makes it possible for hundreds
of young doctors and clinicians to answer that call.
The increased resources -- almost $19 million more
than last year -- will support 900 new and continuing loan repayment
awards and 400 new and continuing scholarship awards.
Awardees must agree to provide health care services for
a minimum of two to four years in areas of the country with
the greatest shortage of medical professionals.
Applications must be postmarked by March 29.
Administered by HHS Health Resources and Services
Administration (HRSA), the National Health Service Corps represents
a key part of HHS strategy to expand access to health-care
services to those most in need -- especially those in rural
and inner-city communities.
Nearly half of the Corps clinician practice in
HHS-supported community health centers, which provide health
care to people regardless of their ability to pay and target
services in areas where people face financial and social barriers
to accessing high-quality care.
The
loan repayment program is open to a long list of medical professionals,
among them physicians, nurses
and dentists. The
scholarship program is open to students enrolled or accepted
for enrollment in accredited medical schools, family nurse practitioner
programs, certified nurse-midwifery programs, physician assistant
programs and dental schools.
Last
year, the National Health Service Corps awarded a total of $70.8
million, including 677 new and continuing loan repayment awards
and 363 new and continuing scholarships.
Of the loan repayment award recipients, 60 percent work
as primary health care providers, 21 percent work in behavioral
health and 19 percent work in oral care.
More than half the scholarship recipients were students
studying to be physicians.
The
NHSC is one of the best tools the federal government has to
extend quality health care to Americans who need it most,
HRSA Acting Administrator Elizabeth M. Duke said.
President Bush so values their work that he has
asked for an even bigger increase in the Corps budget
next year.
For
fiscal year 2003, President Bush has proposed an additional
32 percent increase in the budget for the National Health Service
Corps for a total of $192 million, up from $145.5 million this
year. The additional
resources will result in awards to about 1,800 physicians, dentists
and other clinicians who practice in underserved areas.
The Presidents
budget also requests $1.5 billion for community-based health
centers, a $114 million increase that would continue the Bush
administration's long-term strategy to add 1,200 new and expanded
health center sites over five years and ultimately double the
number of patients treated at them. About half the patients
treated at health centers have no insurance coverage, and many
others have inadequate coverage.
More
information on the Corps and the award application process can
be found at the National
Health Service Corps Web site.
Applications are also available by calling
1-800-221-9393.
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