BURLINGTON, Vt., April 4 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) announced Tuesday that Lamoille Health Partners will receive $495,000 to create a statewide primary care residency training program. The funding – awarded through the Health Resources Services Administration’s (HRSA) “Teaching Health Center Planning and Development Program” – will help Lamoille Health Partners, in consortium with other federally qualified health centers in Vermont, develop a statewide family medicine residency program with the goal of becoming accredited in the next two years. Once accredited, the three-year program will start with 10 residents and increase to a total of 30 residents by the third year.
The Teaching Health Center Planning and Development Program helps establish teaching health programs in community-based settings where primary care clinicians practice, like federally qualified health centers. Nationally, nearly $23 million is being awarded to support the planning and establishment of residency training programs in family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics, pediatric internal medicine, psychiatry, obstetrics and gynecology, general dentistry, pediatric dentistry, and geriatrics.
Sanders, Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee (HELP), has led the fight to expand the Teaching Health Center program, as well as increase funding for community health centers. He said, “At a time when our state and our nation are experiencing a major health care workforce crisis, this is truly great news. It is absolutely vital that Vermont develop family medicine providers and that they stay and practice in Vermont. I am very pleased that Lamoille Health Partners will be leading the effort to create a statewide primary care residency training program to do just that. Through this program, residents will be able to train in the communities that they one day may serve. While much more needs to be done to develop our health care workforce, this is a significant step forward and will ultimately ensure Vermonters get the care they need. I look forward to seeing the program progress and accept their first residents soon.”
Nationally, the United States faces a massive health care workforce shortage. The Association of American Medical Colleges predicts a shortage of up to 124,000 physicians by 2034, including 48,000 primary care physicians. According to HRSA, nearly 100 million Americans live in areas without enough primary medical health care providers.
“At the Health Resources and Services Administration, growing the health care workforce is a top priority,” said HRSA Administrator Carole Johnson. “The funding we are awarding today will allow community-based providers to build a physician workforce that better reflects the community and is best trained to meet the community’s needs.”
“This is a tremendous step for primary care in our state and reflects a very strong vision of our community health centers for training family medicine residents,” said Stuart May, President and CEO of Lamoille Health Partners. “This is an opportunity for Vermont to lead with a unique family medicine training model to be used in other states.”
“It is critically important for all of us to work together to address Vermont’s health care workforce shortages so Vermonters can receive the necessary health care services they need,” said Tess Stack Kuenning, President and CEO of Bi-State Primary Care Association. “We are very grateful for Senator Sanders long time advocacy to expand the Teaching Health Center programs focusing on rural and underserved communities. This family medicine residency planning grant, an innovative family medicine consortium model lead by Lamoille Health Partners, is a key step in expanding the number of primary care doctors who train in our rural Vermont communities.”
Today, over 180,000 Vermonters receive comprehensive, quality, and affordable health care across 73 community health center sites – which represents the highest per capita use of community health centers in the country. Community health centers offer primary, mental, and dental care, as well as substance use disorder treatment and affordable prescription drugs, regardless of a person’s ability to pay.
“Our community health centers are doing incredible work. In the midst of a broken and dysfunctional health care system, I will be doing everything I can to expand community health centers so that every American has access to the primary care that they need and deserve,” said Sanders.
Watch Sen. Sanders’ Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing on the health care workforce crisis here.
Watch Sen. Sanders’ Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing on expanding community health centers here.
