Health Professions Workforce Get Boost from $130M HHS Award

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has announced $130.8 million in grants to strengthen and expand the health professions workforce. Sebelius issued the announcement, saying, "An adequate health care workforce is the linchpin for reforming our health care system to ensure greater access, improve the quality of health care and cut overall costs in the long term.  ”[These] awards not only will provide more training opportunities for people interested in a health professions career, but also will support equipment purchases and faculty development to expand and enhance the quality of training."

The grants will fund primary care workforce training, oral health workforce training, loan repayments for health professionals, and health careers opportunity programs for disadvantaged students. 

The grants include $88.7 million in funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Grant award tables by state are available at http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2010pres/09/state_charts.html.

For more information on HRSA's health professions programs, go to http://bhpr.hrsa.gov/