SOURCE: www.hhs.gov
Investments help ease cost of professional schooling for clinicians, students
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today announced that $229.4 million was invested in the National Health Service Corps in 2012 to support more doctors and nurses and increase access to primary care. These investments included nearly 4,600 loan repayment and scholarship awards to clinicians and students, and grants to 32 states to support state loan repayment programs.
“Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, the National Health Service Corps is providing loans and scholarships to more doctors, nurses, and other health care providers, so more people get the care they need,” said Secretary Sebelius. “National Health Service Corps clinicians are providing care to approximately 10.4 million patients across the country.”
The National Health Service Corps provides financial, professional and educational resources to medical, dental, and mental and behavioral health care providers who bring their skills to areas of the United States with limited access to health care.
With nearly 10,000 providers, the National Health Service Corps has nearly tripled since 2008. In addition to Corps clinicians currently providing care, nearly 1,000 students, residents, and health providers receive scholarships or participate in the Student to Service Loan Repayment program to prepare to practice.