National Health Service Corps (NHSC)

HEALTH CARE HEROES

History In the ‘50s &‘60s a health care crises

emerged in the U.S.

Thus, National Health Service Corps was established through the Emergency Health Personnel Act

Purpose of NHSC

Recruit health professionals to serve health professional shortage areas (HPSAs)

What are HPSAs?

Areas designated by the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services as having a shortage of health professionals.

Search HPSAs by state, county and discipline at http://hpsafind.hrsa.gov/

Health Professional Shortage Areas

Health Professional Shortage Areas

50 million Americans live in health professional shortage areas (HPSAs)

More than 3,000 federally designated HPSAs exist across the U.S. and its territories

Workforce Shortages Over 4,600 active NHSC clinicians serve

nearly 5 million Americans

HRSA estimates that an additional 26,657 practitioners are needed to meet the target HPSA practitioner to population ratio.

PCP Shortage NHSC has over 4,000 open positions at

member clinics across the country

There is a vacancy rate of 13% in Community Health Centers (CHCs) that are frequently staffed through NHSC; as high as 16% in rural areas

PCPs in Metropolitan and Rural Areas

Nonmetropolitan primary care health professional shortage area designations, 1980–2001

Note. FTE = full-time equivalent

Disparity Between Rural and Urban Areas

Rural-urban gap increased over time.

Active physicians per 100 000 population, by year and location (urban or rural)

PCP Retention in HPSAsRetention curves for PCPs in rural HPSA (n = 300)

and non-HPSA (n = 195) settings

Where Do NHSC Clinicians Serve? NHSC clinicians serve in communities in

every State the District of Columbia Puerto Rico the Pacific Basin the U.S. Virgins Islands

Opportunities in NHSC Student/Resident Experiences and

Rotations in Community Health (SEARCH) Scholarship Program Loan Repayment Program State Loan Repayment Program

SEARCH Program

Provides health professions students and residents opportunity to serve in underserved areas

Scholarship Program

A highly competitive program in which selected applicants receive payment of tuition and fees, books, supplies and equipment for up to 4 years in addition to a monthly stipend.

Who Qualifies for Scholarship Program?

Full-time students enrolled or attending fully accredited U.S.:

Allopathic or osteopathic medical schools Family nurse practitioner programs Nurse-midwifery programs Physician assistant programs Dental schools

Loan Repayment Program

A highly competitive program in which selected applicants agree to provide full-time primary care services in HPSA

Who Qualifies for Loan Repayment Program?

Allopathic or osteopathic primary care physicians

Primary care certified nurse practitioners

Primary care physician assistants

Certified nurse-midwives General practice

dentists

Registered clinical dental hygienists

Health service psychologists

Clinical social workers Licensed professional

counselors Marriage and family

therapists Psychiatric nurse specialists

State Loan Repayment Program

NHSC provides matching funds directly to States to operate their own loan repayment programs

Decrease in Appropriations Over the past 5 years, funding for NHSC

has been cut by $47 million.

This is over 27% of 2003 budget that was already insufficient in FY 2003.

NHSC Appropriations (2003, 2008, 2009)

FY 2003 FY 2008 ∆ (03-08)FY 2009

President’s Budget

NHSC Stakeholders

Recommendation

$171 $124 -27.5 percent $121 $235

NHSC Appropriations ($ in millions)*

*Combined NHSC Field and Recruitment appropriations

Recommendation for FY 2010

For FY 2010, we recommend NHSC Field and Recruitment appropriations of $235 million.