Sunday, May 18, 2025
5/18/2025
Rural Residency Planning and Development Program - Applicant Organization Name and Type: Woodlawn Health, Critical Access Hospital Project Director Name: Lisa Field, RN, 574-223-3141, lfield@woodlawnhospital.com Program Pathway: General Primary Care and High Need Specialty Pathway Residency Speciality Area: Family Medicine Residency Format: “New” Rural Track Program (ACGME RTP Type 2) Sponsoring Institution Organization & Location: Woodlawn Health, 1400 E 9th St, Rochester, IN 46975 Rural Target Area(s): Rochester, Fulton County, Indiana Funding Amount Requested: $750,000 Program Sustainability Option: Option 1: Establishing a Medicare FTE Resident Cap Projected Total Number of Residents: 4 Expected ACGME Residency Matriculation Dates: July 31, 2027 Funding Priority Points Requested: N/A Woodlawn Health is applying for the Rural Residency Planning and Development (RRPD) Program to establish a new, accredited community-based medical residency program under the General Primary Care and High Need Specialty Pathway. Woodlawn Health will focus on establishing an accredited Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) residency program that will support the development of high quality, evidence-based family medicine services that support the residents of Fulton County Indiana and surrounding rural communities. The Program will follow evidence-based practices of the American Academy of Family Physicians and ACGME to establish a sustainable family medicine program that will attract and retain residents to practice medicine in the rural, Indiana setting, providing the most basic of medical care services to the most under championed populations in rural, Indiana. Indiana is 35th in the nation when it comes to overall health and ranks even worse (42nd) for mental health. Indiana cities are hubs of health care innovation. But outside these major metropolitan areas, hospitals and providers are harder to find. In fact, in an emergency, rural patients often travel twice as far as urban residents to the closest hospital. As a result, although only 20 percent of Americans live in rural areas, they account for 60 percent of trauma deaths. Sadly, that statistic could be compounded further, as 80 rural hospitals in the U.S. have closed since 2010, and one in three is financially vulnerable. Woodlawn Health is one of 35 Critical Access Hospitals in the state of Indiana. Woodlawn Health is over 25 miles from a neighboring Critical Access Hospital. 64% of Fulton County residents, home to Woodlawn Health, are classified as rural (vastly greater than Indiana as a whole (28%) and the US (20%). Additionally, 5.3% (or 423 households) do not have access to a motor vehicle, making the traverse of the rural community without access to public transportation a barrier in accessing medical care services.3 The Woodlawn Health Residency Program will be carried out through planning efforts to implement a Family Medicine Residency Program via Woodlawn Health, in partnership with 4C Health, a local CMHC, who will serve as an additional clinical rotation site. The specific objectives of this program include: • Woodlawn Health Family Medicine Residency program developed and ready for implementation by July 31, 2027 • Minimum of 4 medical residents complete the residency program annually. • All Woodlawn Health residents gain fulltime employment as upon completion of program. • Medical residents will have a broad understanding of rural hospitals the role of rural hospitals in providing necessary medical care, and how rural hospitals can impact the health of rural residents. • Sustainability plan for medical resident program developed.
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).