Access Health Louisiana (AHL) is a recipient of a Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education Program Grant awarded by the Health Resources and Services Administration. The grant program supports primary care medical and dental residency programs in hospital and outpatient settings in communities served by Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC). This creates new opportunities for residents to gain experience in the medical field while helping rural and/or underserved communities.
By the year 2025, the National Center for Health Workforce Analysis estimates a shortage of 23,640 primary care physician FTEs in the U.S. Many of those positions need to be filled in the southernmost states. Shifting population demographics including the growth and aging of the U.S. population, account for most of the projected increases in provider demand. This demand is seen most prominently among general and family medicine and internal medicine physicians. Nationwide, there has been a decrease in demand for pediatric providers due to the aging of the population. Many physicians caring for older Americans are mostly internists or family medicine. Studies show that most seniors tend to stay with their primary care providers long-term as opposed to seeking out geriatric providers.
Access Health Louisiana’s Teaching Health Center Program aims to: increase physicians and dentists trained in community-based settings, improve health outcomes for members of underserved communities, and expand health care access in underserved and rural areas. The Teaching Health Center Planning and Development Program grant supports the work of building a program, developing a training curriculum, recruiting clinical faculty, retooling workflow to integrate residents, and getting accredited.
HRSA U.S. Teaching Health Center Stats:
Teaching Health Center Program Team:
Eric “Doc” Griggs, M.D.
Assistant Vice President of Community Medicine
CHECK OUT MY BIO
Alicia Battle, Ph.D.
