Name of the training program: The National Family Medicine Residency Program (NFMR) of The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education Discipline of the residency program: Family Medicine Type of application Expansion or new THCGME applicant: Expansion Eligible Entity type: GME Consortium of FQHCs, expansion sites HealthPoint CHC and Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center Year program first began training residents: 2013 Organization website address: www.thewrightcenter.org Brief overview of the residency program: The ACGME accredited sponsoring institution is The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education (TWCGME), a 501c3 unowned graduate medical education safety-net consortium and HRSA’s largest Teaching Health Center program recipient for medical residency programs. The NFMR will, as of this expanded funding, have 5 Family Medicine Practice Sites in FQHCs across the US. Populations served by this program are medically underserved and rural communities in DC, OH, AZ, WA and HI. The sites for expansion are HealthPoint CHC in Auburn, WA and Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center (WCCHC) in Hawaii. Special populations: HealthPoint serves a large Pacific Islander population and anticipated more than 6000 Afghan refugees from the current political crisis of the US withdrawal, and WCCHC serves a large native Hawaiian population. Need - HealthPoint: Washington’s population has consistently grown since the 1900s and has surpassed the projected 2020 estimate of 7.5 million. The mean age of Washington’s practicing physicians is 51 years, slightly younger than reported in 2014. Still, a significant percentage of Washington’s primary care workforce is nearing retirement age. Coupled with the state’s aging population, these conditions suggest an increasing imbalance between supply and demand. TWCGME’s NFMR HealthPoint residency program site was able to keep 30% of its graduates to continue working for HealthPoint. Need - WCCHC: The state of Ha
waii currently does not have any THC GME programming. As an FQHC in Hawaii, WCCHC has a unique patient demographic and socio-economic profile that is as of yet unserved by any THC GME program. WCCHC was formed, by the community, nearly 50 years ago due to the need for increased primary and emergent care access and delivery for the population of the Waianae Coast. Hawaii is facing a critical shortage of doctors, which is expected to worsen. Though a known problem for years, Hawaii has had an acute shortage that is being made worse due to an aging population of retiring physicians, the cost of living being very high and the salaries being lower in Hawaii, and due to the impact of COVID. The problem is worse for the neighbor islands in not being able to attract providers. A local pipeline of new doctors who can go through their residency in the islands, especially if they are Hawaiian natives (meaning hometown scholars), is the most immediate and viable solution to address the shortage of primary care doctors. Total FTE positions requested to be funded under this program for all years of training is 11.5 in addition to the currently awarded 54.5 to bring the total to 66 (22-22-22). FTE positions requested to be funded under this program (HRSA 22-105) for AY 2022-2023: 1.5 (1.5-0-0)