Grant Title: State Loan Repayment Program (SLRP) Number: HRSA-22-048 Applicant: Georgia Department of Community Health 2 Peachtree St NW Atlanta, GA 30303-3141 Contact: Stephen Register State Office of Rural Health (229)401-3081 stephen.register@dch.ga.gov The State Office of Rural Health (SORH) resides within the Georgia Department of Community Health (DCH). The SORH manages programs to develop regional quality health care systems to optimize health status and improve health outcomes in rural and underserved areas of Georgia. The Primary Care Office (PCO), a program division within the SORH office, will serve as the oversight entity for the GA State Office of Rural Health State Loan Repayment Program. The Georgia Primary Care Office (PCO) is committed to improving primary care service delivery and workforce availability to meet the needs of Georgia's underserved populations. The Georgia PCO is committed to assist in improving access to primary health care by tracking, planning, and coordinating the recruitment and retention of physicians in medically underserved areas. The Georgia PCO initiatives include support and technical assistance for the development and expansion of Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC) and Rural Health Clinics (RHC), participation in the National Health Service Corps (NHSC), Conrad State 30, as well as the evaluation of Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSA) and Medically Underserved Areas and Populations (MUA/P) in Georgia. The funding, received from the State Loan Repayment Program (SLRP) HRSA-22-048 opportunity, will be directly used to pay all or part of the principal, interest, or related expenses of qualifying educational loans of primary healthcare providers serving at an eligible facility such as a Federally Qualified Health Center, Rural Health Clinic, Critical Access Hospital(affiliated with a qualified out
patient clinic), State Mental facilities, Federal, State prisons, and private practices located in a Health Professional Shortage Area. Eligible healthcare providers are MD's, DO's, Nurse Practitioners, Physician Assistants, Licensed Clinical Social Workers, Licensed Professional Counselors and Registered Nurses. Awards will be made to providers working full-time for one year of service in the amount of $25,000.00, and providers working part-time for one year of service in the amount of $12,500.00, The funding will be a valuable tool in the recruitment and retention efforts of healthcare professionals throughout the state. The critical element to improving the health status of Georgia and reducing the disparities is to expand access to primary care combined with health education to the medically underserved and underinsured. The compilation of data from the PCO will serve as a critical element in the foundation in pursuit of improved health status in Georgia.