Affordable Care Act (ACA) funding is kicking accessible health care into gear in more than one way. The HHS announced an investment of $83.4 million to train more than 550 new residents (2014-2015 academic year) in 60 Teaching Health Centers and $100 million for building an estimated 150 new health center sites in 2015.
The Teaching Health Center (THC) program was created by the ACA to expand residency training in community-based settings, including urban, rural, and tribal. Residents are trained in family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, psychiatry, geriatrics, and general dentistry. The ACA funding will boost the number of states with THCs from 21 to 24 and increase the number of residents trained in the previous academic year by more than 200.
The THC program not only provides training, but also “galvanizes communities,” said Health Resources and Service Administration (HRSA) Administrator Mary K. Wakefield, PhD, RN, in a July 7, 2014, HHS press release. “It brings hospitals, academic centers, health centers, and community organizations together to provide top-notch medical education and services in areas of the country that need them most.”
The funding for new health centers will add to the > 550 health center sites that have opened in the past 3 years due to the ACA. According to a July 8, 2014, HHS press release, nearly 1,300 health centers operate more than 9,200 service delivery sites that provide care to more than 21 million patients in every state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Pacific Basin.
The centers also conduct outreach and enrollment activities to link individuals to affordable coverage. According to Dr. Wakefield, since last fall, health centers have provided enrollment assistance to more than 4.7 million people across the country.
To learn more about the HRSA THC program, visit http://bphc.hrsa.gov/about.