State launches loan repayment program for healthcare workers
The Department of Health and Social Services has launched a state-sponsored Health Care Provider Loan Repayment Program. The program provides eligible clinicians with up to $50,000 per year in loan repayment for a maximum of four years of employment in Delaware.
The program, signed into law in 2021, is meant to incentivize providers to practice in Delaware, and attract more providers to the state’s primary care workforce.
Qualifying clinicians must be new primary care providers in an ambulatory or outpatient setting and must have completed graduate education within six months of the application for HCPLRP being submitted. Eligible healthcare providers include physicians practicing family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics/gynecology, geriatrics and psychiatry as well as nurse practitioners, certified nurse midwives, clinical nurse specialists, and physicians assistants practicing adult medicine, family medicine, pediatrics, psychiatry/mental health, geriatrics and women’s health.
Employers may apply on behalf of their affiliated, qualifying clinicians for education loan repayment grants. Sites include hospital primary care practices, private practices, and community and federally qualified health centers.
For awards issued to practitioners employed by Delaware healthcare facilities, hospitals and health systems must provide a 50% match for loan repayment awards.
Priority consideration will be given to Delaware Institute of Medical Education and Research-participating students and participants in Delaware-based residency programs.
Applications are now accepted on a rolling basis and will be reviewed on June 1, Aug. 1, and Oct. 1. Applicants in June and August must have completed their graduate medical education by July 2021 or soon after. Applicants in the Oct. 1 review cycle must complete their graduate education by 2022 or soon after.
Delaware’s Health Care Provider Loan Repayment Program application is available online.
In addition to the state-sponsored Health Care Provider Loan Repayment Program, Delaware has operated a federal state loan repayment program supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. SLRP offers up to $200,000 for four-year contractual agreements to provide services in federally designated Health Professional Shortage Areas. To learn more about these programs, visit: dhss.delaware.gov/dhcc/LRP.html.
