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Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Recruitment and retention of health professionals

Needs Assessment of the Obstetric Workforce in Maine's Rural Hospitals
Report assessing the workforce needs for 15 hospitals with obstetrics units in rural Maine. Offers a SWOT Analysis and discusses factors contributing to sustainability of the workforce, community characteristics impacting the workforce, recruitment and retention challenges, and training challenges. Offers recommendations at the state, regional, health system, hospital, and unit level.
Author(s): Brianna Keefe-Oates, Katherine Simmonds, Louisa H. Smith, Jeni Stolow
Date: 01/2024
Sponsoring organizations: MaineHealth, Roux Institute, The Maine Rural Maternity & Obstetrics Management Strategies Network
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Closing the Gap: How a Community Effort Can Improve Rural Maternity Care
Case study of a Critical Access Hospital (CAH) that increased access to maternal healthcare in rural North Carolina by opening a maternity care center. Discusses recruitment and retention of healthcare professionals and collaboration among healthcare organizations in the community.
Author(s): Jesus Ruiz
Citation: Annals of Family Medicine, 22(1), 68
Date: 01/2024
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Informing the Surgical Workforce Pathway: How Rural Community Characteristics Matter
Explores rural and urban surgeons' perspectives on community characteristics, utilizing interview data from 22 rural and 15 urban general surgeons in the Midwest. Identifies rural-urban differences in approach to physical environment, health resources, and professional/personal community roles. Discusses implications for surgeons' practice location choices and surgical workforce education and recruitment.
Author(s): Dorothy Hughes, Joshua Mammen, Tomas L Griebling, Joanna Veazey Brooks
Citation: Remote and Rural Health, 24(1), 8363
Date: 01/2024
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Graduate Medical Education Funding
Explores graduate medical education (GME), focusing on types of locations where it is offered and sources of funding available, including Medicare and Medicaid. Describes ways in which states are rethinking GME to better meet the needs of states and communities most impacted by physician workforce shortages, including rural areas. Includes a map with shadings showing levels of Medicare GME-funded residents by state.
Date: 01/2024
Sponsoring organization: National Conference of State Legislatures
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How Tribal Medical Education Programs Could Solve the Rural Health Care Crisis with Natasha Bray, DO
Highlights a partnership between The Cherokee Nation and the Oklahoma State University College of Osteopathic Medicine to address physician recruitment and retention in tribal communities. Discusses physician residencies, cultural competency, national physician shortages, and lessons learned. Transcript beneath podcast player.
Date: 01/2024
Sponsoring organization: American Medical Association
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National Health Service Corps 2023 Report to Congress
Details program accomplishments of the National Health Service Corps (NHSC), provides updates on Health Professional Shortage Area designations, explains recruitment efforts for NHSC Scholarship and Loan Repayment Programs, provides estimates on number of patients seen by NHSC clinicians, and details short- and long-term retention rates. Features state-by-state data with breakdowns by urban and rural locations.
Date: 2024
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
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Hawai'i State Center for Nursing 2024 Annual Report: A Report for Governor Josh Green and the Hawai'i State Legislature
Provides an overview of the Hawaiʻi State Center for Nursing's activities in Fiscal Year 2024. Reports on the Center's funding structure, education and training programs, data gathering and research activities, and other efforts to improve nursing workforce recruitment, retention, and ability to provide high-quality care. Identifies workforce trends, and strategies for improvement. Highlights rural needs and projects.
Date: 2024
Sponsoring organization: Hawai'i State Center for Nursing
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How to Solve New Mexico's Health Care Worker Shortage
Proposes state-level policy and funding changes to address healthcare workforce shortages in New Mexico, covering topics including Medicaid reimbursement, financial incentives for education and practice, credentialing, workforce programs, and more. Highlights the needs of rural and tribal communities, including discussion of rural provider retention, workforce pipelines, the Rural Healthcare Tax Credit (RHTC), and state and federal cooperation with tribal nations.
Date: 2024
Sponsoring organization: Think New Mexico
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Georgia Graduate Medical Education Exit Survey Report: Based on Responses to the 2024 GME Exit Survey
Results of a survey of 937 Georgia graduate medical education (GME) graduates, providing demographics and information on compensation and debt levels, retention rates, practice plans, assessments of the job market, and training experiences. Features statistics on practice location with breakdowns by 5 levels of population density, and percent planning rural practice.
Date: 2024
Sponsoring organization: Georgia Board of Health Care Workforce
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Strategies to Reduce Barriers for Underserved Students in Health Professions Programs: Addressing Rural and Urban Health Professional Shortages by Building a Diverse Healthcare Workforce
Evaluates barriers to the education, recruitment, and placement of rural and underserved health professions students in Arizona, utilizing interview data from 15 educators and program managers with relevant experience. Identifies opportunities for improvement, including discussion of pathway programs, financial aid, admission practices, community supports, public policy, and more.
Author(s): J Ringhand, A Oteng-Quarshie, J Peters, A Garn, B Koch, D Derksen
Date: 2024
Sponsoring organization: Arizona Center for Rural Health
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