National Health Service Corps
and NURSE Corps
Rural Recruitment
Kimberly Kleine, Deputy Associate Administrator
Bureau of Clinician Recruitment and Service
Health Resources and Services Administration
kkleine@hrsa.gov
State Offices of Rural Health Meeting
September 11, 2013
Bureau of Clinician Recruitment and Service
• Through the National Health Service
Corps and NURSE Corps, HRSA’s
Bureau of Clinician Recruitment and
Service repays educational loans and
provides scholarships to support the
recruitment and retention of health
professionals to work in medically
underserved communities.
U.S. Department of
Health and Human
Services (HHS)
Health Resources
Resources and
and
Health
Services Administration
Administration
Services
(HRSA)
(HRSA)
Bureau of Clinician
Recruitment and Service
(BCRS)
2
National Health Service Corps Today
• More than 40,000 clinicians have served in NHSC
 Expanding access to health care;
 Improving the health of people who live in urban and
rural areas, where health care is often scarce.
• NHSC consists of nearly 10,000* clinicians currently
working in underserved communities
• NHSC Programs




Loan Repayment (NHSC LRP)
Student to Service Loan Repayment Program (S2S) - Pilot
Scholarships (NHSC SP)
State Loan Repayment (SLRP)
*As of September 30, 2012
3
NHSC Field Strength*
12,000
10,279
9,908
10,000
8,000
6,000
4,000
8,000
7,530
4,808
3,601
2,000
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
*FY 2011 included clinicians funded through the Recovery Act, Base Appropriations, and the Affordable Care Act
FY 2013 Projection is as of July 2013
4
FY 2013 NHSC Funding
Number of
• $300Programs
Million – ACA fundingAwards
• Award
estimates
S2S Loan
Repayment
Program by program78*
NHSC Loan Repayment Program
Applications
100
4,200**
5,706
NHSC Scholarship Program
198ǂ
1,738
State Loan Repayment Program
32ǂǂ
32
*Revised from Feb 6, 2013 press release which reported 89 award offers made
**Approximately 1,800 new & 2,400 continuations
ǂ182 new & 16 continuations
ǂǂ32 continuations
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Students to Service
Loan Repayment Program
• Program Requirements/Eligibility





Physicians in 4th year of training
Must match to primary care residency
Placement in a HPSA of 14 or higher
Placement assistance provided
$120,000 for a 3-Year commitment
• FY 2013 Application Cycle
 78 Awards; 100 Applications Received
 Average debt per application over $200,000
• FY 2014 Application Cycle (September – November 2013)
 100 Awards Planned
6
NHSC Loan Repayment Program
• FY 2013 Application Cycle
 Over 5,700 Applications Received; 1,800 New Awards
planned
 Two funding levels based on community need
• HPSAs 14 & above – up to $60,000
• HPSAs 13 & below – up to $40,000
 Electronic Employment Verification
• FY 2014 Application Cycle (January - March 2014)
7
NHSC Scholarship Program
• FY 2013 Application Cycle
 182 New Awards made; 16 Continuations
 1,738 Applications received
• Regional Offices manage Scholar Placement
• Getting Prepared for Service (GPS) Program
 Webinars; Social Media; Mentor Program
 Virtual Job Fairs
• FY 2014 Application Cycle (February – April 2014)
8
State Loan Repayment Program
• Eligible Applicants–States; Matching Requirement
• Lots of Flexibility in Program Design




Eligible disciplines
Length of service commitment
Amount of loan repayment
Practice sites
• FY 2013 Application Cycle – 32 Continuations
 Disciplines Added in 2012 – Pharmacists & Registered Nurses
 New Site Types – Nursing Homes; Critical Access Hospitals; State,
County and Local Mental Health Hospitals
• FY 2014 Application Cycle – New Competition
 All 50 states, DC and U.S. territories will be eligible to apply
9
State Loan Repayment
Program Grantees
10
NURSE Corps
• The NURSE Corps offers loan repayment and
scholarships to nurses, including nurse practitioners, who
work in health centers, rural health clinics, hospitals, and
other facilities experiencing a critical shortage of nurses
• NURSE Corps consists of approximately 3,000 registered
and advanced practice nurses providing care in
communities where they are needed most
• NURSE Corps Programs
 NURSE Corp Loan Repayment Program
 NURSE Corps Scholarship Program
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NURSE Corps Loan Repayment Program
• Assistance to nurses working in a Critical Shortage Facility or
nurse faculty employed by an accredited school of nursing.
 Repayment of 60 percent of outstanding qualified educational loans
for a 2-year commitment
 May receive repayment of an additional 25 percent for a 3rd year of
service
• Eligible disciplines include licensed registered nurse (including NP
and other APN) or nurse faculty, have completed training leading
to a diploma, associate, baccalaureate or graduate degree
• FY 2013 Application Cycle
 Over 4,600 Applications Received; 580 New Awards planned
• FY 2014 Application Cycle (January - February 2014)
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NURSE Corps Scholarship Program
• Helps students complete their nursing education by paying
tuition, fees, other education costs, a monthly living stipend,
in exchange for working at a health care facility with a
shortage of nurses, known as a Critical Shortage Facility.
 Full-time nursing students accepted or enrolled in diploma,
associate, baccalaureate or graduate nursing programs
 As much as half of award funds are reserved for students
pursuing a master’s level nurse practitioner degree
• FY 2013 Application Cycle
 Over 2,600 Applications Received; 240 New Awards planned
• FY 2014 Application Cycle (March - May 2014)
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Rural Outreach
Rural Field Strength
47
635
55%
45%
544
695
1289
921
URBAN
RURAL
MD/DO
PA
DDS/RDH
NP
CNM
M/B
• 29 states and 3 U.S. territories have a majority of their NHSC
providers serving at rural sites including Arkansas, Hawaii, North
Carolina, and South Dakota
15
NHSC Critical Access Hospital Site Pilot
• August 2011, White House Rural Council expanded eligibility
for the NHSC to include Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs)
• CAHs must meet applicable program requirements and be
affiliated with an outpatient, ambulatory clinic
• Over 70% of the nearly 1,350 CAHs are currently located in
a HPSA
• As of September 2013:
 175 CAHs have been approved to be NHSC service sites; 7
applications currently under review
 51 NHSC LRPs providers working in CAHs verses 7 prior to the
pilot
16
NHSC Rural Sites & Vacancy Data
• 14,000+ Approved NHSC Sites
 8,148 are rural sites & 3,282 have completed site profiles
 2,985 (37%) of Rural Sites are FQHCs; 86 (1.1%) are FQHC Look-aLikes; 877 (11%) are RHCs
• 3,083 Vacancies/Job Opportunities
 1,657 rural site Vacancies
• As of September 2013, rural sites vacancies are as follows:
 914 primary care provider vacancies posted (among 530 sites)
 130 dental provider vacancies posted (among 114 sites)
 613 mental health care provider vacancies posted (among 305 sites)
 11 rural sites have vacancies posted in all three categories
17
NHSC Recruitment Strategies
NHSC Jobs Center
nhscjobs.hrsa.gov
• Launched May 2012 – Totally Redesigned Site
 Uses Google Maps Technology
 Includes a Site Profile – Sites can “Tell their Story”
 Enhanced Search Features – Site, Vacancy, HPSA score, city,
or state
• October 1, 2012 through May 31, 2013: 323,559 visits to
the NHSC Jobs Center from 191,346 unique visitors
• Averages more than 40,400 visits per month
• 6,050 completed Jobs Center site profiles
19
NHSC Jobs Center
nhscjobs.hrsa.gov
21
NHSC Virtual Job Fairs
• Employers and Job Seekers come together virtually
• Two of the three NHSC Virtual Job Fairs held in 2012 focused on
recruitment at NHSC sites located in rural communities
 48 presentations representing 182 individual NHSC-approved rural
sites from 19 states (in the Midwest, Southwest, Western and
Pacific), and promoting approximately 336 job opportunities to more
than 400 primary care clinicians from across the country
 18 sites have reported they were contacted by job seekers in the
week after the job fair.
• Scholar Placement VJF -- on July 20, 2013 & August 10, 2013
 Invited 3RNet and their affiliates to promote job vacancies to NHSC
Scholars
 New Mexico Health Services highlighted vacancies located at five
NHSC sites to nearly twenty scholar participants
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NHSC Ambassadors
• Dedicated volunteers who help educate and inform prospective
Corps members and inspire and motivate students to provide
primary health care in communities with limited access to care.
• Give their time and talents to spread the word about the
opportunities available through the NHSC and serve as
additional local resources for current NHSC members.
• There are nearly 1,000 active Ambassadors located in every
state and territories of the United States
• To learn more about the Ambassador Program visit
http://nhsc.hrsa.gov/ambassadors/
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Corps Community Day
“Access Today. Healthy Communities Tomorrow.”
• Celebrates the important work of the NHSC to increase access to
primary care in medically underserved communities
 Thursday, October 10, 2013
 Held annually during National Primary Care Week
•
74 events in 38 states & District of Columbia & Puerto Rico (so far)
•
Help make Corps Community Day by planning an event
•
“Event in a Box” one-page guides make it easy to plan
a Health Insurance Marketplace Q&A session or other
Corps Community Day event or activity
•
Email CorpsCommunityDay@hrsa.gov to get involved
For More Information About Our Programs
National Health Service Corps
• www.NHSC.hrsa.gov
• Facebook.com/NationalHealthServiceCorps
• Twitter.com/NHSCorps
NURSE Corps
• www.hrsa.gov/loanscholarships/nursecorps/
• Facebook.com/HRSANURSECorps
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Questions/Discussion