HRSA Grants Fund Rural Psychiatric Residencies

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) last month distributed approximately $20 million in grants across 27 organizations to help support workforce development in psychiatry, family medicine, and internal medicine in rural areas.

Rural hospitals, health centers, and other organizations in 21 states will receive up to $750,000 over three years to develop new rural residency programs while achieving accreditation through the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. The grants are part of HRSA’s Rural Residency Planning and Development (RRPD) Program.

“Promoting the health of rural America is one of the Trump administration’s health care priorities,” said Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar. “Supporting the training of health care providers in rural areas through grants like these is a key way to help expand rural access to care and is part of an overall effort to support rural health care in sustainable, innovative, and flexible ways.”

The RRPD program is part of a multiyear initiative by HRSA to expand the physician workforce in rural areas by developing new, sustainable residency programs in family medicine, internal medicine, and psychiatry. The recipients of the awards include rural hospitals, community health centers, health centers operated by the Indian Health Service, American Indian tribes or tribal organizations, and schools of medicine.  ■