HRSA Announces Investments to Improve Access to Healthcare in Underserved Communities

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) “announced nearly $100 million in awards to grow, support, and strengthen the health workforce and improve access to quality care in high-need areas across the country.” HHS's website has the release.

HRSA will be investing in several areas, including “growing the workforce for acute and long-term care” by awarding $19 million to five schools, “increasing the primary care physician workforce in high-need areas” by providing money to three medical schools, “responding to the nation’s opioid crisis” by awarding money to 52 organizations to “train and increase the number of peer support specialists and other community-based providers, such as community health workers, to provide mental health services and family support to children whose parents or guardians are impacted by opioid use disorders and other substance use disorders,” and “integrating mental healthcare in pediatric care.”

HRSA Administrator Carole Johnson touts these investments as “critical…to grow[ing] a top-notch workforce to deliver” healthcare. HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said that it is “especially important” to “address workforce shortages in underserved and rural communities.”