HRSA Announces $200 Million in Health Care Workforce Funds - August 3, 2009

The Department of Health and Human Services has announced the availability of $200 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding to support grants, loans, loan repayment, and scholarships to train health professionals. According to the agency’s announcement, the funds will be directed as follows: $80.2 million for scholarships, loans, and loan repayment; $50 million in grants to health professions training programs to purchase equipment and improve the quality of training; $47.6 million to support primary care training programs; $10.5 million to strengthen the public health workforce; $10.2 million to increase the diversity of the health care workforce; and $1.5 million to support state professional licensing boards to reduce telemedicine barriers. The funds will be awarded through a competitive grant process. Funding opportunities will be announced over the next several months.