Applicant Organization Name: Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic Project Director Name: Katheryn C. Norris, D.O. Address: 1000 Wallace Way, Grandview, WA 98930 Contact Phone Number: (509) 788-1702 Email Address: KatherynN@yvfwc.org Name of Training Program: Sollus Northwest Family Medicine Residency Discipline of the Residency Program: Family Medicine Type of Application: Expansion Eligible Entity Type: Federally Qualified Health Center Year Program First Began Training Residents: 2013 Organization Website: www.yvfwc.org The Sollus Northwest Family Medicine Residency (SNFMR), accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), was the first medical residency program established in the lower Yakima Valley of south-central Washington. The program is affiliated with the Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences in Yakima, Washington, and the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington, and is sponsored by Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic (YVFWC), a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) corporately located in Toppenish, Washington, that provides comprehensive, primary, preventive, enabling and additional health services to underserved communities The SNFMR program is a community-based residency with osteopathic recognition located out of YVFWC’s Grandview Medical-Dental Center in Grandview, Washington. As a completely rural-based program, the SNFMR’s goal is to expand its family medicine residency program to produce high-quality primary care physicians. SNFMR has been preparing medical residents to practice as primary care physicians in such areas since 2013. The clinical training sites represent a variety of health care specialties to give residents the opportunity to work in both urban and rural settings, including those that provide inter-professional, team-based care. The community-based patient care sites that will host the residency program exhibit characteristics that align directly with the purpose o
f this project. SNFMR has established agreements with four hospitals, four specialty care organizations, and five YVFWC medical sites, all located in Benton County or Yakima County. These two counties make up a region with limited health care resources and patients who face a variety of poor social determinants of health. The patient population varies by site but can be broadly defined as underrepresented and underserved, as patients are more like to be minority, low-income, and uninsured, all key social determinants of health. SNFMR trains 12 total residents, of which six are currently supported by teaching health center funds; the six FTE positions that are not supported by teaching health center funds are being supported directly by the sponsoring institution. As such, SNFMR is requesting THCGME support for six resident FTEs through this funding opportunity, ultimately providing financial support for the remaining six residents and removing the financial burden from the sponsoring institution. With funding received through HRSA’s THCGME Program, SNFMR will enhance access to training and education programs in a rural area, two resources that are typically limited in rural areas for people who want to pursue careers in healthcare. SNFMR aims to improve the workforce and improve the health of its community by alleviating provider shortages in rural areas through the expansion of its existing rural-based family medicine residency program. The total FTE positions requested to be funded under this program for all years of training is 12 (4-4-4). The FTE positions requested to be funded under this program for AY 2022-2023 is 12 (4-4-4). Residents within the residency program will not perform rotations at a hospital rotation site that has not provided resident training in any prior academic year.