On March 15, 2023 Indiana Health Centers, Inc. was awarded $500,000.00 in grant funding for the Teaching Health Center Planning and Development Program (THCGME) from HRSA. IHC was one of 28 recipients to receive the THCGME award. The purpose of the THCGME Program is to support the training of residents in primary care residency training programs in community-based ambulatory patient care centers. Programs will prepare residents to provide high quality care, particularly in rural and underserved communities, and develop competencies to serve these diverse populations and communities.
“Committed to providing all Hoosiers equitable, high quality, and affordable care, this partnership is an alliance between both organizations that are mission focused for all,” stated Ann Lundy, CEO.
Indiana Health Centers (IHC) will be using this opportunity to establish a new, accredited, community-based medical residency program in family medicine to address the shortage of physicians across rural communities of Indiana where many individuals face challenges as it relates to their rural status. The family medicine program will be accredited by the Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) and will be established as a way to recruit and retain physicians to support rural populations beyond residency training. To establish the program, IHC has identified Marian University College of Osteopathic Medicine as a key partner to plan, develop and implement a medical residency program.
“The Marian University College of Osteopathic Medicine is dedicated to preparing compassionate and highly skilled osteopathic physicians to serve our community. Many of our graduates choose to practice in primary care specialties. A partnership with the Indiana Health Centers to create residency training programs that will provide care to the underserved areas of Indiana makes us all stronger,” stated Dr. Amanda Wright, DO Dean.
Indiana Health Centers has a longstanding history in Indiana, serving the state’s rural, urban, underserved and minority populations since 1977. The Teaching Health Center Planning and Development Program has put IHC in an ideal position to start a newly accredited family medicine medical residency program that will bring primary care services across the Indiana rural community. Family Medicine residents of IHC will spend at least 50% of their training time at IHC clinics and will have the opportunity to spend the remaining time of their training at various rural hospitals across the communities.