ARRA - State Primary Care Offices

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The purpose of this funding opportunity announcement is to assist State Primary Care Offices (PCOs) in the coordination and conduct of activities within their State/U.S. Territory as it relates to the retention of primary care providers as a result of the National Health Service Corps (NHSC) initiative under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA or Recovery Act). The NHSC consists of a Scholarship Program, a Loan Repayment Program, and a State Loan Repayment Program (SLRP). As part of doubling of the NHSC field strength supported through ARRA, PCOs have had a concurrent doubling in the activities they conduct with NHSC service sites and clinicians. This announcement will provide PCOs currently funded through ARRA the opportunity for additional support for retention of ARRA-funded clinicians and for program evaluation to measure the effectiveness of retention activities and the impact of ARRA funding on communities, including increased access to primary health services through the recruitment assistance afforded by the NHSC and the reduction of health care workforce shortages. This announcement details application requirements for supplemental funding available to ARRA-funded PCOs for the Retention and Evaluation Activities (REA) Initiative. Eligible PCOs requesting REA funds must demonstrate how these funds will be used to support the retention of ARRA-funded NHSC, including the SLRP, providers or evaluate the effectiveness of retention activities and impact of ARRA funding on reducing primary care workforce shortages and improving access to health care services in underserved communities. Funds may not be used to review NHSC Site Applications or to conduct recruitment activities. Allowable uses of supplemental funds include: 1) Activities that would support ARRA-funded NHSC scholars, including the coordination of rotations in underserved areas to expose the future NHSC provider to underserved communities; 2) Activities to retain ARRA-funded NHSC clinicians; 3) Activities to retain ARRA-funded SLRP clinicians for States that also received ARRA SLRP awards; 4) Providing technical assistance to clinical sites with ARRA-funded clinicians for the purpose of retention; and 5) Evaluating the impact of the ARRA-funded NHSC and SLRP providers on the State and the effectiveness of retention strategies. Applicants are strongly encouraged to engage in all of the above-listed activities. Applicants must engage in Activities 1, 2, and, if applicable, 3. If applicants intend to provide technical assistance to clinical sites (Activity 4), the project narrative of the application must include a plan to coordinate with the Bureau of Clinician Recruitment and Service (BCRS) Division of Regional Operations on such assistance, particularly if the project proposes to conduct site visits. If applicants intend to engage in the evaluation activity (Activity 5), the project narrative of the application must include an evaluation plan that describes the technical capacity to collect and analyze data related to the increase in access to primary care services, the reduction in workforce shortages, and the effectiveness of differing retention strategies.

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