THE VALUED VOICE

Three Wisconsin Graduate Medical Education (GME) programs will expand thanks to funding provided by a WHA-created grant program successfully implemented by Wisconsin’s Department of Health Services. The recent awards of $2.1 million bring the total GME grant funding since initiation of the program in 2013 to more than $34 million to help rural hospitals, health systems and educational entities train more physicians.
 
“Grow Our Own” grants employ WHA’s “86% equation” to create public-private partnerships to grow Wisconsin’s health care workforce.
 
“In 2019, WHA asked the state to include other in-demand specialties beyond the original primary care specialties in the physician residency grants, and the state made that change in the 2019-21 budget,” noted WHA Senior Vice President of Workforce and Clinical Practice Ann Zenk. “This year’s expansion grant awards will support new residency opportunities for physicians in diverse specialty areas.”
 
Grants to expand GME programs were awarded to the following:
 

• Medical College of Wisconsin General Surgery Residency Program
• UW Hospitals and Clinics Psychiatry Residency Program
• SSM Monroe Clinic Rural Emergency Medicine Fellowship

“Providing clinical education and training opportunities to individuals with ties to Wisconsin increases the likelihood of that new clinician staying in Wisconsin to practice,” Zenk noted. “It grows our Wisconsin health care workforce from within.”