Kelley Withy, MD, PhD Program Director withy@hawaii.edu (808) 692-1060
Hawai‘i State Loan Repayment Program The Hawai‘i /Pacific Basin Area Health Education Center is pleased to announce the Hawai‘i State Loan Repayment Program (SLRP), a grant funded under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010. The SLRP offers primary care and behavioral health providers up to $40,000 a year in loan repayment to provide care at designated Health Professional Shortage Areas in Hawai‘i (HPSA). Selected health care professionals are obligated to commit to at least 2 years of service at a public or non-profit private entity located and providing health services in a HPSA. In addition to caring for the community they serve; recipients are involved with work force development activities such as training and mentoring. The SLRP will improve the number of primary care and behavioral health care providers in medically underserved areas of Hawai‘i and improve the retention of health care providers by decreasing the burden of debt. Such debt may prevent future doctors from choosing primary care or behavioral health careers in underserved areas. But no longer!
Who’s Eligible? • Physicians (Family Medicine, General Pediatrics, General Internal Medicine, Obstetrics/ Gynecology, Geriatrics, Psychiatry)
• Primary Care or Behavioral Health Nurse Practitioners, Registered Nurses, Nurse Midwives & Physician Assistants
• Health Service Psychologists • Licensed Clinical Social Workers • Licensed Professional Counselors and Marriage and Family Therapists
• Dentists, Pharmacists, Certified Substance Abuse Counselors
A total of 60 health care providers have taken advantage of this program to date. Currently there are 26 active loan re-payers in underserved areas of Hawai‘i. Of the program graduates, 63% are still working where they did their commitment and 83% remain working in Hawaii.
Partners In order to accomplish our goals, the Hawai‘i /Pacific Basin 20 undergraduate schools and 6 graduate schools including AHEC enjoys partnerships with 63 elementary and high schools, including the UH Nancy Atmospera-Walch School of Nursing, Social Work, Psychology, and the Department of Public Health Sciences and College of Education. Additional partners include: 23 CHCs, the Hawai‘i Primary Care Association, the Hawai‘i Department of Labor, the HRSA regional office, NIH, the Hawai‘i State Rural Health Association, the Hawai‘i Department of Education, Papa Ola Lokahi, the Native Hawaiian Center of Excellence, Pacific Island Health Officers’ Association (PIHOA), Imi Ho‘ola Program, Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA) Health Careers Opportunity Program (HCOP) and the Hawai‘i Public Health Association.
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