AUSTIN (KXAN) — A new state program is trying to help address the nursing shortage in rural Texas communities.
On Monday, Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller and the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) announced applications are open for the Rural Nursing Recruitment & Retention Program (RNRR).
This comes a few weeks after Gov. Greg Abbott announced $17 million in grant funding awarded to rural hospitals by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission.
“In rural Texas, we have a lot of challenges. We have most elderly population,” said Commissioner Miller. “We have the highest uninsured population. We have the two vocations that are most accident prone: farming and oil field work.”
The nurse program provides eligible health care facilities with the money to incentivize nurses to work in rural areas of Texas, according to a news release.
Eligible facilities must do the following:
- Employ nurses
- Provide direct patient care to its community as a whole
- Accept Medicare/Medicaid patients
- Stay within a rural Texas county with a population of 68,000 or less
What does the program offer?
The program helps rural health care facilities provide $15,000 in stipend assistance to nurses who agree to work or continue to work at their facility.
“Access to medical care is crucial for rural Texans. With the implementation of RNRR, qualifying rural healthcare facilities will be able to attract and retain needed staff to provide quality care,” the news release said.
An awarded facility can give that money to a nurse who is currently employed or will be employed and agrees to work full-time for a minimum of three years.
Applications are due June 27. The release said the award is competitive and TDA cannot review completed applications before the deadline.
“Staff are available to answer questions until 5 p.m. June 27,” the release said.
Rural staffing shortages
Staffing concerns are an ongoing issue that rural communities have dealt with for years.
“There are 4 million rural Texans. Sometimes those areas of the state are an afterthought.”
John Henderson, CEO of the Texas Organization of Rural and Community Hospitals
Henderson said sometimes it’s hard to recruit and retain a good clinical workforce.
“Not just with physicians, but also with nurses, respiratory therapists, and lab technicians,” Henderson said.
Ultimately, Henderson said a lot of it comes down to money.
“Even if they offer competitive pay packages, sometimes they can’t match the bonus and incentives that some of the urban systems can provide,” Henderson said.
This program adds to a growing list of resources for rural hospitals. Henderson said he already knows of hospitals that are interested in applying.
“This, they think, will help put them over the top with regard to those recruitment efforts,” Henderson said.
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