Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King announced that Maine Medical Center has been awarded $725,933 to develop new rural residency programs while achieving accreditation through the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education.  The funding was awarded through the Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA) Rural Residency Planning and Development Program (RRPD).

“As one of the oldest and most rural states in the country, Maine faces significant challenges in providing access to high-quality health care,” said Senators Collins and King in a joint statement.  “This important funding will help Maine Medical Center expand the reach of their health care programs through the establishment of new rural residency programs.”

The RRPD program, administered by HRSA’s Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP) and Bureau of Health Workforce (BHW), is part of a multi-year initiative by HRSA to expand the physician workforce in rural areas by developing new, sustainable residency programs in family medicine, internal medicine, and psychiatry. The recipients of the awards include rural hospitals, community health centers, health centers operated by the Indian Health Service, Indian tribes or tribal organizations, and schools of medicine.