Residency expansion continues as Idaho asks state support to cover per‑resident costs

Legislative analysts and residency program directors told the Joint Finance‑Appropriations Committee that expanding graduate medical education is central to addressing Idaho’s physician shortage, and they asked for continued state funding that covers a share of per‑resident training costs.

Kevin Campbell, a Legislative Services Office analyst, described what residency training entails and the three‑way funding model used in Idaho: a sponsoring institution, health‑system partners and the state. "To create a doctor takes at a minimum, 3 additional years longer for some specialties," Campbell said, explaining that residency years pay salaries, training costs and faculty supervision.

Why it matters: Residency slots determine how many new, practice‑ready physicians train inside the state and are an important pipeline for retaining clinicians in Idaho communities. Directors said residents provide immediate clinical capacity while in training and are more likely to remain in Idaho after completing multiyear programs.

Key points and requests

- Program counts and requests: Eastern Idaho Medical Residency (EIMR) described 56 residents and requested $240,000 in FY2026 for four additional psychiatric resident slots (funding to cover a year of training). Boise Internal Medicine has 41 residents and requested $60,000 ongoing for one additional resident. Family Medicine Residency programs across the state together reported roughly 130 residents and requested substantial funding to support six new residents and a fellowship (the presentation listed a $420,000 ongoing request tied to six residents and one fellowship at St. Alphonsus Nampa and associated partners).

- Per‑resident cost and state share: Presentations stated an estimated cost of roughly $210,000 per resident per year; presenters described the historic Idaho approach as a roughly one‑third/state, one‑third/sponsoring institution, one‑third/health partner model. Directors said the per‑resident cost has risen since earlier years when $60,000 represented the state share of a smaller per‑resident cost.

- Retention and service: Kevin Campbell cited a 2022 American Medical Association figure that about 55% of Idaho residency graduates remain in state; residency directors said retention varies by specialty and program but that Idaho programs are retaining a meaningful share. Psychiatrist Matthew Larson noted the immediate service benefit: "It takes 3 and a half months to get into me," he said, and added that residents provide direct patient care every day during training and expand access in their host communities.

Committee discussion and program capacity

Directors and analysts said state funding stabilizes programs and allows planned expansions. Doctor Mo Hagman (Boise Internal Medicine) and Dr. Brandon Mickelson (Pocatello family medicine) said cutting or reducing state support would likely require reducing resident slots. "Without state funding... we would have to reduce the number of physicians we're training," Hagman said.

Speakers described ready‑to‑standup positions including a child psychiatry path contingent on funding and a sports‑medicine fellowship in Pocatello that program leaders said could begin once funding is secured.

What did not happen

There were no recorded committee votes in the transcript excerpt; directors asked the committee to continue the multi‑year expansion plans and lawmakers requested more data and cost detail from analysts before final appropriations decisions.

Ending

Residency directors urged continued investment so the programs can deliver near‑term clinical capacity while also improving long‑term retention of physicians in Idaho communities. The committee asked staff to provide further financial detail and to coordinate with residency program leadership on enrollment and cost projections.