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Senate Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2021 - 2022
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | May 4, 2022 03:44 PM |
|---|---|
| From: | Senator Michele Brooks |
| To: | All Senate members |
| Subject: | Primary Care Preceptorship Program for Community Health Centers |
| I will soon introduce legislation creating a primary care workforce initiative for our Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), better known as Pennsylvania’s Community Health Centers. Based off key program initiatives implemented in Ohio, this legislation seeks to ensure that we are training and incentivizing primary care, dental, and behavioral health students to learn, live and work in Pennsylvania and serve our underserved populations with affordable, quality health care IN their local communities. Pennsylvania has more than 350 Community Health Center locations in nearly every county of the Commonwealth. These centers are in rural, urban, and suburban areas and provide comprehensive health care services including primary care, dental care, behavioral health care, pediatrics, pharmacy services, vision services, and other environmental services and supports to keep people healthy. A lifeline of our broader health care system in Pennsylvania, these centers struggle to recruit and retain primary care clinicians, dental providers, and behavioral health professionals. They work tirelessly to find the professionals – including primary care physicians and nurse practitioners, dentists, and behavioral health professionals such as licensed clinical social workers – that embrace their mission and desire to be rooted in the needs of their communities. This legislation will help to bridge the gap between our state-based medical, dental, nursing, and other schools and our FQHCs by creating the infrastructure to allow them to offer preceptorships to students who are training for careers as primary care clinicians, dental providers, and behavioral health professionals. This community engagement early in their training has proven to retain these critical members and leaders of the health care team in these settings after graduation. Please join me in addressing the health care workforce crisis by allowing medical students to receive part of their training in our Community Health Centers. |