Sunday, May 18, 2025
5/18/2025
Rural Residency Planning and Development Program - • Eligible Entity/Facility Type : Rural Hospital/Graduate Medical Education Consortium • Project Director: Patrick Brent Smith, MD Mississippi Delta Medical Residency Program psmith@deltahealthsystem.org • Residency Program Director: Patrick Brent Smith, MD • Program Pathway: Maternal Health and Obstetrics Pathway Residency • Residency Specialty: Family Medicine Maternal Health with Enhanced Obstetrics • Residency Format: Existing Rural Track Program • Sponsoring Institution: Mississippi Medical Education and Research Consortium (MSMERC), ACGME Sponsor Code : 1202700561 300 S. Washington Ave. Greenville, MS 38701 (662) 725-6261 • Rural Target Area: 9 Upper Delta HPSA Counties in Mississippi (Bolivar, Humphreys, Issaquena, Leflore, Quitman, Sharkey, Sunflower, Tunica, and Washington) • Funding Amount Requested: $750,000 • Program Sustainability Option: Option 3 - Medicare FTE Resident Cap Expansion for RTPs • Projected Total Number of Residents: 6 ( 2 residents/year x 3 years) • Expected ACGME Accreditation and Residency Matriculation Dates: July 31, 2027 and June , 2031 • Funding Priority Points Requested: 3 Points – Maternal Health • Recent HRSA Awards Received Within Last 5 Years: Community Project Funding Award No. 6 CE1HS46517 ($4,238,000) to renovate residency clinic and purchase training equipment. Delta Health System is applying for funds to develop a Family Medicine Rural Track Program (RTP) with enhanced obstetrical training in the Maternal Health and Obstetrics Pathway of HRSA’s Rural Residency Planning and Development Program. This three-year RTP will prepare and graduate two residents a year for the independent practice of obstetrics in rural Mississippi communities, with the purpose of increasing the number of RTP trained Family Medicine/Obstetrics physicians (FMOB) in the Mississippi Delta. The RTP will request ACGME RTP Designation within an Existing Program (the ACGME- accredited MSMERC Mississippi Delta Family Medicine Residency Program) with a new permanent complement increase of two FTE residents per training year, and new rural sites in Indianola and Mound Bayou, Mississippi. The more than 40,000 women of child-bearing age in nine northwestern Mississippi Delta counties are the priority population. All of these counties are designated Maternity Care Target Areas (weighted scores of 21 or 22) as well as Medically Underserved Communities and Health Professional Shortage Areas. These counties have the highest black infant mortality rate in the state that has the highest infant mortality rate in the country. Mississippi ranks 50th in the number of midwives and OBGYN physicians per capita in the country. There is a critical need for more physicians trained in advanced obstetrical and maternal health care in the Mississippi Delta to address these long-standing health inequities. Consortium members include Delta Health System (Greenville, MS), Mississippi Medical Education Consortium (MS MERC), South Sunflower County Hospital (Indianola, MS), and Delta Health Center (Mound Bayou, MS) EXPECTED PROJECT OUTCOMES: 1. 100 % of the RTP residency graduates will meet the 2023 ACGME Family Medicine Program Requirements for incorporating comprehensive pregnancy care into independent practice [ACGME IV.C.3.i.(2)] 2. 100% of the RTP residency graduates will be certified by the RTP faculty as competent to perform operative deliveries 3. 100 % of the RTP graduates will be successfully certified by the American Board of Family Medicine 4. At least 75% of the RTP graduates will stay in the Mississippi Delta or in a rural area of the state to practice comprehensive pregnancy-related care 5. A completed strategic plan in collaboration with the Mississippi Academy of Family Physicians to increase the number of FMOB physician practices in Mississippi by 50% 6. Development of a statewide coordinated regionalization system of risk-appropriate levels of maternal care.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).