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Physician-residency gap: advocates urge more state incentives and startup support for graduate medical education
Summary
Terry Coleman and other speakers urged the committee to pursue incentives and startup support to create more residency slots in Georgia, noting that many medical graduates leave the state for training and do not return; speakers cited per-slot startup costs and past state efforts to expand residency capacity.
Terry Coleman spoke to the Appropriations Subcommittee for Health about a statewide shortage of graduate medical education (residency) positions and the need for state incentives to create more residency slots.
Scope and problem: Coleman said that Georgia produces roughly 700 medical-school graduates but that 50% or more leave the state for residency and many do not return to practice in Georgia. He said a residency slot typically costs a hospital $125,000 to $150,000 per year per position to start, and that hospitals often cannot front those startup costs even though Medicare will later reimburse allowable costs.
Historical context and request: Coleman referenced a previous state incentive under Governor Nathan Deal that funded residency expansion and created hundreds of slots; he said a similar and better-targeted incentive effort is needed to retain graduates and to expand residency capacity in South Georgia and other underserved regions. Chairman Petrie and other committee members acknowledged the importance of aligning medical-school growth with residency capacity.
Ending: Coleman asked the committee to consider follow-up discussions on financing models and incentives for hospitals to start residency programs and noted the economic-development and workforce benefits of retaining physicians in-state.
