Rural Residency Planning and Development Program - Phelps County Regional Medical Center (d.b.a. Phelps Health) 1000 West 10th Street, Rolla, MO 65401-2905 Facility: Rural hospital Pathway 2: Maternal health and obstetrics Specialty: Family medicine with enhanced obstetrics Format: Rural Residency Program (non-RTP) SI: A.T. Still University – Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine, 800 W Jefferson St, Kirksville, MO 63501, 289537 Counties: Phelps, MO (primary), Crawford, Dent, Maries, Pulaski, Texas, MO (secondary) Funding request: $749,992 Sustainability: Medicare Option 1 – Rural hospital “new” residency program Residents: 3 residents per year Expected ACGME accreditation: June 1, 2027 First resident matriculation: April 1, 2028 Funding priority 2 for maternal health - family medicine with enhanced OB training Awards: Rural Health Network Development Planning Grant Program, P10RH53739, HRSA-24-007/Nurse Education, Practice, Quality and Retention Simulation Education Training Program, T48HP52027, HRSA-23-129 Phelps Health, a county-owned hospital, is establishing a new family medicine with enhanced obstetrics (FM/OB) rural residency program to improve the recruitment and retention of physicians in rural Missouri. The South-Central Missouri Rural Residency Program aims to address the dual primary care and maternal health shortage and related health outcomes across the rural region through the creation of an ACGME-accredited, sustainable FM/OB rural residency program. Phelps Health is requesting $749,992 to support the development costs needed to fully plan and implement this program. Phelps Health serves six counties—Crawford, Dent, Maries, Phelps, Pulaski, and Texas—that are all designated HPSAs requiring 2-5 additional full-time primary care providers to adequately serve their populations, which together total 170,511 persons. This region of the state lacks any medical residency programs, while the state overall has an insufficient number of residency slots to adequately retain medical school graduates. These factors have significantly contributed to the physician shortage across the region. As a result, the service area experiences significant health disparities, ranking among the worst counties in the state for health-related factors and outcomes, including obesity, strokes, heart disease, COPD, and even infant mortality. The proposed rural residency program will increase capacity to better serve a population with unmet primary care needs and increase the likelihood that residents will continue to practice in the region and other rural communities. The proposed rural residency training will occur at the Phelps Health main campus in Rolla, Missouri (Phelps County, pop. 20,423). A preliminary feasibility assessment and pro forma found that Phelps Health has all necessary services and resources required by ACGME for accreditation purposes, including organizational capacity, adequate patient volumes, and financial sustainability. Phelps Health has engaged A.T. Still University – Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine to become the sponsoring institution for the proposed FM/OB residency program. Phelps Health will further partner with Mid-Missouri Area Health Education Center to support accreditation, recruitment, and administration. Three requested grant personnel, including a project director and residency program director, will complete all tasks necessary for meeting project objectives: the creation of a new rural residency program accredited by ACGME, a validated sustainability plan that includes ongoing funding streams to sustain long-term resident training, and a structured plan to track and publicly report on resident career outcomes after graduation for at least five years after the first graduating class. Outcomes for the project include establishing a new FM/OB rural residency program, recruiting three residents for each program year once established, and establishing Phelps Health as a premiere location for rural residency clinical experience.
