HRSA awards more than $94 million to strengthen and grow the health care workforce

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) announced more than $94 million in awards to train the next generation of health care providers. These grants support education and training to help enhance health care delivery and improve access to high-quality care.  

“We want to prepare health care workers to provide care that is effective and efficient by emphasizing preventive services, engaging patients and caregivers, and building on successful models of care,” said HRSA Acting Administrator Jim Macrae. “The training programs supported by these grants help us accomplish these goals.”  

Today’s awards support the health workforce across the entire training continuum, from providing initial academic training of new health professionals to training current clinicians in team and evidence-based approaches that improve the quality of health care and are consistent with the Department’s efforts to improve our health care delivery system through better care, smarter spending, and healthier people.

“These grants not only strengthen the health workforce but foster partnership and innovation in health professions training and practice,” said Rebecca Spitzgo, HRSA Associate Administrator for health workforce. 

These new grants were awarded through the following 11 programs:

Nursing Workforce Development

• Nurse Education Practice Quality and Retention ($11.9 million) provides 26 grants to support academic, service and continuing education projects designed to enhance nursing education, improve the quality of patient care, increase nurse retention and strengthen the nursing workforce.
• Veterans Bachelor of Science in Nursing ($3.4 million) provides 11 grants to increase the enrollment, progression and graduation of military veterans from baccalaureate (BSN) nursing programs in an effort to expand the nursing workforce and improve employment opportunities for veterans in high-demand careers such as nursing.
• Nurse Faculty Loan Program ($25.2 million) provides grants to 87 nursing schools to increase the number of qualified nursing faculty in the United States. Support from this program allows nursing schools to offer eligible students partial loan forgiveness when they graduate and serve as full-time nursing faculty.
• Nursing Workforce Diversity ($3.6 million) provides 12 grants to increase nursing education opportunities for individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds, including racial and ethnic minorities underrepresented among registered nurses, by providing student scholarships or stipends for various levels of nursing degree programs. 
• Advanced Nursing Education ($11.1 million) funds 21 advanced nursing programs that support the training of new nurse practitioners and other advanced practice registered nurses, emphasizing the critically important role nurses play in delivering primary health care services.
• Nurse Anesthetist Traineeship ($2.2 million) funds 79 nurse anesthetist education programs to provide traineeships to licensed registered nurses enrolled as full-time students in a master’s or doctoral nurse anesthesia program.

Training in General, Pediatric, Public Health Dentistry and Dental Hygiene Program

• Predoctoral Training in General, Pediatric and Public Health Dentistry and Dental Hygiene ($4 million) funds 12 grants that support the planning, development, operation of, and participation in professional predoctoral training programs for a variety of primary oral healthcare disciplines.
• Postdoctoral Training in General, Pediatric and Public Health Dentistry ($10.5 million) funds 20 grants that support the planning, development, operation of, and participation in professional postdoctoral training programs in a variety of primary oral healthcare disciplines.

Centers of Excellence ($12 million) funds four health professions schools to improve the recruitment and performance and training of underrepresented minority students preparing for health professions careers. This five-year program also supports the development of information resources, clinical education, curricula, and cultural competence related to minority health issues. 

Primary Care Training and Enhancement ($9.5 million) funds 32new grants to hospitals, medical schools, academically affiliated physician assistant training programs and other entities to improve the quality, quantity, distribution, and diversity of the primary care workforce through curriculum enhancement and training program expansion.

Graduate Psychology Education ($656,000) supports up to four grants to prepare psychologists to use an integrated and interprofessional approach to specifically address the behavioral health needs of military personnel, veterans, and their families.

For more information about grant opportunities, please visit http://www.hrsa.gov/grants/index.htm.

For more information about health professions loans and scholarships, please visit http://www.hrsa.gov/loanscholarships/index.html.

Visit our website for a complete list of grantees and funding amounts.

The Health Resources and Services Administration is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. HRSA is the primary Federal agency responsible for improving access to health care services for people who are uninsured, isolated, or medically vulnerable. For more information about HRSA and its programs, visit www.hrsa.gov.