adminOn July 7, 2014, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced $83.4 million in additional funding to support primary care residency programs in 60 teaching health centers across the nation, including five in Pennsylvania totaling $15 million.
The funding will help train more than 550 residents nationwide during the 2014-2015 academic year, increasing the number of residents trained in the previous academic year by more than 200 and helping to increase access to health care in communities across the country.
The awardees in Pennsylvania include:
- Cornerstone Care, Inc.
Family Medicine
Greensboro, PA
$1,200,000 - Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education
Internal Medicine
Scranton, PA
$5,250,000 - Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education
Geriatrics
Scranton, PA
$300,000 - Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education/A.T. Still
Family Medicine
Scranton, PA
$6,300,000 - Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education/Wilkes-Barre
Family Medicine
Scranton, PA
$1,950,000
The 2014-2015 state budget, passed by the Pennsylvania General Assembly and awaiting Gov. Corbett’s signature, also includes a $1 million increase for additional primary care residency slots and medical student loan forgiveness in Pennsylvania.
U.S. Sen. Robert Casey, from Pennsylvania, also has introduced legislation that would increase the number of residency slots by 15,000 nationwide by 2019 — a 58 percent increase over the 26,000 slots currently funded through Medicare.
“We are very encouraged by these initiatives to increase the number of physicians which would no doubt improve the quality of care and improve disparities in access to care,” said Bruce MacLeod, MD, president of the Pennsylvania Medical Society (PAMED). “The increased funding will help attract new physicians to practice in the commonwealth and increase access to care in medically underserved areas,” he said.