“President Obama is committed to passing health insurance reform and we’re closer to reform than ever before,” said Secretary Sebelius. “The Recovery Act will help ensure we grow our health care workforce and give our aspiring doctors, nurses and health professionals the tools and training they need to provide top-quality care to more Americans.”
“As we mark 200 days since President Obama signed ARRA, HRSA has moved quickly to distribute most of the $2.5 billion assigned to us,” said HRSA Administrator Mary Wakefield, Ph.D., R.N. “These funds are helping us rebuild the infrastructure needed to produce more skilled health professionals, and they are expanding essential primary care services to hundreds of thousands of additional Americans through our health center system.”
The grants are distributed through six HRSA programs:
- Scholarships for Disadvantaged Students, $19.3 million. This program funds health professions schools and training programs which, in turn, provide scholarships to full-time health professions students, with priority given to those with financial need.
- Centers of Excellence, $4.9 million. This program funds health professions schools to establish or expand programs for minority individuals. Funds may be used to improve student academic performance, recruit and retain minority faculty, and expand opportunities to train at off-campus, community-based health care sites. <
- Public Health Traineeships, $3 million. This program funds schools of public health to support traineeships that pay tuition, fees, and stipends for students in biostatistics, epidemiology, environmental health, toxicology, nutrition, or maternal and child health.
- Nursing Workforce Diversity, $2.6 million. This program increases nursing education opportunities for individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds through student scholarships or stipends, pre-entry preparation, and retention activities.
- Health Careers Opportunities, $2.5 million. This program funds schools and health professions training sites to establish or expand programs that help individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds enter and graduate from a health professions program.
- Dental Public Health Residency Training, $810,925. This program funds residency programs in dental public health, including financial aid to residents.
Health Professions Awards by State are located athttp://www.hhs.gov/recovery/programs/hrsa/healthprofessionsawardeesbystate.html.
