Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education (THCGME) program before the Sept. 30 deadline.“Doctors tend to stay in the communities where they are trained, so this bill is especially important for medically underserved areas like the Central Valley that are experiencing doctor shortages,” said Rep. Jeff Denham. “With the help of these teaching health centers, we can recruit and retain primary and specialty care physicians to our area so patients can see the doctor they need without having to drive long distances.”
During the hearing, Rep. Denham’s work on the issue was recognized by Subcommittee Chairman U.S. Rep. Michael Burgess (TX-26), Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (WA-05) and Dr. Neil S. Calman, President and CEO at the Institute for Family Health in New York City.
Dr. Calman thanked Rep. Denham for his leadership on this issue and for introducing “innovative legislation that would appropriate even more funds for expansion,” adding that “primary care saves lives and saves money, and the Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education program helps solve our primary care crisis. However, it is two weeks away from extinction.”
Additional witnesses testifying at the hearing included Dr. Adrian Billings, Chief Medical Officer of Preventative Care Health Services in Texas; Janice A Knebl, DO, MBA, Professor in Geriatrics at the University of North Texas Health Science Center; and Juliann G. Sebastian, PhD, RN, FAAN, Dean and Professor of the College of Nursing at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.
Created in 2010 to address the shortage of primary care physicians in rural and medically underserved communities, the THCGME program must be re-authorized and expanded by Sept. 30, 2017. Rep. Denham is an original cosponsor of H.R. 3394, the Teaching Health Centers Graduate Medical Education Extension Act of 2017, which reauthorizes THCGME for three years and at higher funding levels than were reauthorized in the most recent two-year extension. Rep. Denham also introduced H.R. 3451, the Creating Additional Residency Expansion (CARE) Act, to increase funding, create new centers for residency programs and allow existing programs to expand.
For updates on Rep. Denham’s work on healthcare for the Central Valley, visit www.Denham.house.gov/healthcare.
Source: Congressman Jeff Denham
