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Doctors and legislators discuss building maternal‑care workforce; fellowship expansion seen as one tool
Summary
Physicians and residency leaders told the committee that expanding family‑medicine OB fellowships and supporting community hospitals are critical to reversing maternal‑care deserts in Idaho; speakers asked the legislature to fund fellowships, clarify legal practice boundaries, and support hospital capacity and Medicaid reimbursement changes.
Dr. Jennifer Cook, associate director of the family medicine residency and director of an obstetrics fellowship, told the Joint Finance‑Appropriations Committee that Idaho faces a shortage of clinicians able to provide surgical obstetrics in many rural counties and that expanding fellowship training and targeted funding could help.
Cook said her program took six years to establish and now has graduated 11 fellows; roughly half of graduated fellows have stayed…
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