Unliquidated Obligation from Year 10: State Loan Repayment Program

The purpose of the Kentucky State Loan Repayment Program (KSLRP) is to improve access to underserved areas by uniting communities in need with primary health professionals and support their efforts to build better systems of care. This purpose coincides with the Healthy People 2020 overarching goals: Attain high-quality, longer lives free of preventable disease, disability, injury, and premature death. Achieve health equity, eliminate disparities, and improve the health of all groups. Create social and physical environments that promote good health for all. Promote quality of life, healthy development, and healthy behaviors across all life stages. The goals of the Kentucky State Loan Repayment Program (KSLRP) continue to be: 1. Provide assistance to address the professional health care shortages in Kentucky's medically underserved areas. 2. Support rural communities in their efforts to recruit and retain well qualified healthcare professionals. Within the next budget year there are plans to revise/update the KSLRP web pages, revise printed materials and increase marketing efforts for the program. Although some progress has been made, dental and mental health professionals remain under-represented in the KSLRP. Dentists have traditionally not shown a great deal of interest in the program, we contribute the lack of interest in part to the fact that most dentists enter into a private for-profit practice setting making them ineligible for loan repayment through the KSLRP. The Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services provides the majority of mental health services through fourteen (14) regional Mental Health Centers and four (4) psychiatric hospitals. Mental health professionals employed by the hospitals are not eligible for loan repayment because in-patient care is not considered primary care and the state system is unwilling to make contributions towards the matching component. The staff will work to develop innovative ways to market the program to these under-represented disciplines. There are also plans to conduct workforce studies with emphasis on rural communities. The results will help determine future needs and plans for the program. Kentucky's rural nature means that successful recruitment and retention to this population is particularly important to the health of the state. The KSLRP is an important tool in assisting small rural hospitals and clinics recruit and retain quality health care professionals. Please Note: An official Change in Scope was approved to add Pharmacists and Registered Nurses to the approved disciplines. This Change in Scope should broaden the range for potential candidates and assist in addressing a vital workforce shortage in Kentucky.