Rural Residency Planning and Development Program - Project Abstract Project Title: Improving Health Care in Southwest Mississippi through Increased Availability of Family Physicians Eligibility Entity Type: SMRMC is classified as a Rural Referral Center per 42 CFR 412.96 for the purpose of Medicare Reimbursement. Project Director Contact Information: Mallory Ginn, CFO Email: mallory.ginn@smrmc.com Phone: 601-250-4235 Program Director Contact information: J. Keith Speed, DO Email: kspeed@smrmc.com Phone: 601-249-1719 Residency Specialty & Type: Family Medicine Residency Program Sponsoring Institution: Southwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center Website Address: www.smrmc.com Rural Target Areas: Eight Mississippi Counties: Adams, Amite, Franklin, Lincoln, Lawrence, Marion, Pike, and Walthall. Two Louisiana Parishes: Tangipahoa, Washington Grants Funds Requested: $749,999 Program Sustainability Option: Option One – Establishing a Medicare FTE Resident Cap and Option Four - Other Public or Private Funding Projected Number of Residents: 18 Expected ACGME Accreditation and Residency Matriculation Dates: Expected accreditation fall, 2022. Expected matriculation: July 1, 2023 This project will establish a new Family Medicine residency program at Southwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center (SMRMC). All eight Mississippi counties and two Louisiana parishes served by SMRMC are designated as HRSA rural medicine underserved areas with a high rate of minority residents and poverty. It is critical that SMRMC increase the number of family medicine physicians to improve access of care, reduce health care disparities, and improve patient outcomes in this underserved region. The training of Family Medicine residents and subsequent graduation of Board-Eligible Family Medicine physicians familiar with our region, will substantially improve access to primary and specialty care physicians. Well-trained family physicians will provide quality health care to communities identified by HRSA as “Distressed” and “At Risk.” According to research performed by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) and sited by the Office of Mississippi Physician Workforce (www.ompw.org), Mississippi ranks last in the United States with the fewest active physicians at 191.3 per 100,000 population. In addition, Mississippi has 65.9 active primary care physicians per 100,000 population, which is below the United States’ state median of 90.8. SMRMC is in an underinsured and underserved area of the country. Mississippi Medicaid has not been expanded as allowed under the Affordable Care Act. Persons without health insurance, under the age of 65 years, is 16%. The average household income in McComb, MS is $31,784 with a poverty rate of 26.2%. Once established, the three-year family medicine residency training program will be located in McComb, MS; an area which currently does not provide residency training options for newly graduated physicians. The program will train six residents at each level and, at maturity, have eighteen residents in training at full complement. The program’s goal is to retain as many as 50% of the graduates in the Southwest Mississippi area to meet the primary care needs of the service area. SMRMC received initial Sponsoring institution accreditation from the Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) effective July 1, 2019. Due to the recent Covid-19 public health crisis, SMRMC decided to delay program development until the health care environment became more stable. SMRMC will utilize the current academic and ACGME infrastructure outlined within our Sponsoring Institution application and are developing an application for ACGME Program Accreditation. We expect to receive program accreditation approval in the fall of 2022. Once accredited, program faculty and staff will begin the recruiting process, with a target matriculation date for the first class of residents on July 1, 2023.
