On Tuesday, March 10, 2009 the US Senate gave final approval to a $410 billion spending bill to fund most of the federal government for the remainder of the year after overcoming a resilient Republican opposition and several Democratic defections. For the AHEC Program it means that the AHEC line item under Title VII will be funded for FY2009 at $32.54 million, which is a significant increase from $28.18 million in FY2008.
What does this mean for the 54 AHEC programs and nearly 215 centers scattered throughout the US? Possibly an additional $10-20 thousand per program and center for next year. Doesn’t seem like much, but for those programs and centers that operate on small budgets (all of them, actually), and having seen no increases for many years, and indeed reductions for some, any additional funding can provide a great deal of opportunities to provide for the recruitment, retention and continuing education of the primary care workforce. There are myriad health professions student initiatives, continuing education opportunities, and health provider resources that can be developed and leveraged with these additional federal dollars. This is an exciting time for the AHEC program, and for other health professions training programs-now is the time to make inroads into the recruitment and training needs of the nation’s primary care health care system!