Application Process for Rhode Island National Health Service Corp Sites
Mission
To increase access to care in underserved communities by supporting Rhode Island practices recruit, hire, and retain clinicians to address health professional shortages.
By becoming a National Health Service Corps (NHSC)-approved site, Rhode Island practices can recruit and hire new clinicians and keep current staff through:
- NHSC Loan Repayment or Scholarship Programs
- Hiring NHSC Scholars or NHSC Student to Serve Participants (if eligible)
Now Accepting NHSC New Site Applications
Please see application here : NHSC Application
Deadline: June 22nd, 2023 at 11:59 p.m ET
Site Agreement: NHSC Site Agreement
Website: NHSC Site Eligibility Requirements
General Requirements to become a NHSC-Approved Site:
Review the NHSC Site Reference Guide and the NHSC Site Agreement for more information on eligibility and steps to becoming a site. These documents contain the program requirements your site must meet in order to maintain its status as an NHSC-approved site.
In general, the practice must:
- Function as part of a system of care that either offers or assures access to ancillary, inpatient, and specialty referrals.
- Provide services without regard to the individual’s inability to pay. Whether payment for those services would be made under Medicare, Medicaid, or Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).
- Provide services at a discount based on family size and income for individuals and families with incomes above 100% and, at or below 200% of the most current federal poverty guidelines. The eligibility for the discount program can only be based on income and family size. No other factor (for example, assets, insurance application and/or coverage, citizenship, population type) can be used to assess eligibility.
- Be located in and treat patients from a federally designated Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA). Please use this site find if your practice’s address is in a HPSA.
- Provide culturally competent and linguistically appropriate comprehensive primary care services (medical, dental, and/or behavioral), which correspond to the designated HPSA type.
Resources:
Please visit the NHSC website for more information on new site application window and technical assistance webinars. Typically, the NHSC Site application opens in Spring.
Note: If your organization has multiple sites located in Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs), you must submit a separate application for each site.
Learn more about these programs:
Each year, health workforce data is used to determine the minimum Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSA) score a site must meet to recruit and hire NHSC participants. The National Health Service Corps publish each year’s score in late spring.
Learn more about HPSA score requirements:
Benefits of NHSC-Approved Site
- Recruiting Clinicians
Use the Health Workforce Connector and National Recruitment and Retention Network-3RNET to let clinicians, know about job opportunities in your practice. For more information about these free recruitment resources, please contact Jill D’Errico.
- Retaining Staff through Loan Repayment
- Eligible clinicians can apply for to NHSC Loan Repayment Program. HRSA must select them to receive a loan repayment award.
- Eligible clinicians can also apply to the Health Professional Loan Repayment Program.
Please note that while clinicians are encouraged to apply to both programs, they can only participate in one program at a time. For more information about loan repayment programs, please contact Rebeca Vasquez.
- Hiring NHSC Scholars or NHSC Student to Serve Participants
NHSC Scholars and NHSC Students to Service (S2S) participants must work at NHSC-approved sites in federally designated Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs) of greatest need.
What we do
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Provide technical assistance to Rhode Island primary care, dental, and mental health practices seeking to become a National Health Service Corps (NHSC)-approved site
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Review NHSC site applications
Rhode Island Department of Health