Healthcare workforce board highlights residency expansion, loan‑repayment awards and new tracking methods
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Summary
The Georgia Board of Healthcare Workforce told lawmakers it is funding residency capitation slots, redirecting existing funds to rural surgery and psychiatry slots, and will award roughly 170 loan‑repayment grants for FY26; the board said it now tracks graduates using NPI numbers and raised five‑year retention expectations from 45% to 55%.
Chet Bessin, executive director of the Georgia Board of Healthcare Workforce, told the House appropriations subcommittee the board is focusing on expanding graduate medical education (GME) and on loan‑repayment incentives to improve physician retention in rural areas.
Bessin said the board redirects existing funds to support rural surgery and child/adolescent psychiatry slots and administers capitation funding for residency programs. The board has a $75,000 grant program for sites to study and prepare new residency programs and cited a State Route 540 development grant (roughly $20 million in amended ’25) that is intended to yield about 200 net new GME slots over the coming years.
On loan repayment, Bessin listed typical award amounts: physician/dentist options of $25,000 (one year) or a $150,000 four‑year package; PAs and NPs $10,000 per year (reapplying up to four times); nurse‑faculty and behavioral‑health award tiers. He said the board plans about 170 awards for FY26 and that SB 131 enabled final‑year residents and fellows to apply.
To measure retention, the board said it surveys graduates and now uses National Provider Identifier (NPI) numbers to track providers over time. "We do annually survey both medical school graduates and residency or GME graduates," Bessin said, and noted the board raised a five‑year retention performance threshold from 45% to 55% and sees most programs meeting or exceeding that mark.
Next steps: The board will present loan‑repayment awards to the board for approval and continue to refine retention tracking with NPI data, and members asked for more detail on international medical graduate participation and accreditation timelines for new programs.
