State Primary Care Offices New Hampshire Department of Health & Human Services, Division of Public Health Services 29 Hazen Drive, Concord, NH 03301 Primary Contact: Shawn Jackson Phone: 603-271-4412; Fax: 603-271-4506 Email: Shawn.E.Jackson@dhhs.nh.gov Website: www.dhhs.nh.gov/programs-services/health-care/rural-health-primary-care Amount Requested (5 Year Total): $818,435 The New Hampshire Primary Care Office (PCO) is a component of the Rural Health and Primary Care Section (RHPC) within the Division of Public Health Services’ Bureau of Prevention and Wellness, New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). The mission and function of RHPC is to support communities and stakeholders that provide innovative and effective access to quality health care services with a focus on the low income, uninsured, and Medicaid populations of New Hampshire. The purpose of the proposed project is to meet the following Objectives: 1) Develop a Statewide Community Health Needs Assessment; 2) Coordinate Shortage Designations within the State; 3) Collaborate to expand access to Primary Care and provide Technical Assistance; and 4) Define a long-term plan to address shortages of Health Care Providers To meet Objective 1 – Develop a Statewide Primary Care Needs Assessment - the PCO, with assistance from the contracted vendor, will identify communities with the greatest unmet healthcare needs and health workforce shortages by utilizing state and national databases to collect data, identify the key barriers to accessing health care for these communities, and provide a plan for ongoing collaboration with stakeholders. The PCO will coordinate and data share with NH’s Primary Care Association (Bi-State PCA), the Integrated Delivery Networks, and other DHHS offices. Under Objective 2 – Coordinate Shortage Designations within the State - the PCO, with assistance from the contracted vendor, will coordinate the HPSA and MUA/P designation process
; provide technical assistance to organizations/communities about the designation process; and apply for new, and update existing, HPSA and MUA/P designations - as needed – with the most up-to-date, accurate data. To fulfill Objective 3 – the PCO will collaborate to expand access to Primary Care through recruitment and retention activities with Bi-State PCA’s Recruitment Center, collaboration in health center planning and development with Bi-State PCA, and collaboration with other HRSA partners and organizations, (e.g. SORH/State Loan Repayment Program (SLRP)/Conrad 30/Health Professions Data Center (all under RHPC), Bi-State PCA, DRO, Integrated Delivery Networks, and the Legislative Commission on Primary Care Workforce Issues (LCPCWI), etc.) to support access to primary care services. Continuing to work towards the long-term goals of the LCPCWI, which are the following: sustained SLRP funding in the state budget, residency development, coordination of education sessions for policy makers around healthcare workforce challenges and subsequent action, pipeline program exploration, and regional collaboration exploration. To fulfill Objective 4 - Define a long-term plan to address shortages of Health Care Providers, the PCO will work to ensure the continuation and expansion of funding for the State Loan Repayment Program (SLRP) by maintaining the line item in the general fund, identify concrete ways in which to move the discussion forward related to additional Family Practice Residencies in New Hampshire, coordinate an educational session for policy makers around the healthcare workforce challenges and what is currently being done in response to those challenges, explore innovative pipeline programs for people interested in health care professions, and explore regional opportunities for primary care workforce recruitment and retention.