Office of Rural Health and Primary Care

Charles Dwyer, Director

The Program: The Maine Office of Rural Health and Primary Care manages health personnel recruitment and retention programs and provides technical assistance for communities to receive grants that benefit health care and rural areas; facilitates communication on rural health issues among providers, consumers and government programs.

The Problem: Maine is a rural state with a large proportion of the population living in areas designated rural by the U.S. Census. Medical care providers are more difficult to recruit and retain in rural areas. Small populations limit their practices. They may be long distances from hospitals where they can treat patients and consult with colleagues. They may find it difficult to keep up with changing knowledge and to know about changes in resources for patients. Residents who are a considerable distance from health care facilities may be hindered from getting care by problems with child care, lack of transportation, with purchasing medications, special equipment and services associated with health care.

The Goal: To increase resources and reduce costs for health care statewide with a focus on rural areas and to establish communication links among stakeholders in rural health issues.

Priority Population: The residents of Maine who live in rural areas.

Program Activities:

Manage the state Rural Medical Access Program and facilitate reimbursement for malpractice premiums for family practice and OB/GYN physicians serving underserved areas.
Provide technical assistance on federal grants: eg. the Rural Health Outreach Grant, the Rural Health Transition Grant and the Integrated Service Network Grant.
Produce and distribute the Maine Rural Health Newsletter; participate in the Maine Rural Health Association; convene conferences on rural health issues; participate in specific task groups that address rural health problems; and network with associations working to improve the availability of services in rural areas.
Administer the Critical Access Program for small rural hospitals

Funding Source: Federal Office of Rural Health Policy grant.

PRIMARY HEALTH CARE

The Program: The Office gathers and analyzes data to assess both resources and makes recommendations for filling gaps and increasing access to primary care, mental health and dental health care services for underserved areas.

The Problem: Maine is a rural state with a widely scattered population. Primary dental and mental health care services in rural and certain urban areas are limited by a lack of providers, health care facilities and by a lack of services which complement and supplement health care services. Geographic, financial, transportation and other barriers prevent access to health care services.

The Goal: The goal is to increase access to primary, mental and dental health care services for underserved populations.

Program Activities:

Provision of technical assistance to communities, health care providers and health care facilities including Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), Federally Qualified Health Center Look-Alikes (FQHC-LA) and Rural Health Clinics (RHCs).
Identify geographic areas and populations that are medically underserved and in need of additional health care professionals or health care services and recommend those areas for federal designation.
Administer the Maine State Loan Repayment Program (SLRP) which places health professionals in the areas designated as having a shortage of health professionals and pays their educational loans in exchange for service.
Serve as the state representative for the National Health Service Corps (NHSC) including interviewing applicants for NHSC scholarships, providing technical assistance to NHSC obligees and sites and assisting communities to access those federal resources.
Serve as the coordinator for the internationally trained physician. J1 visa waiver option program: Word PDF
Survey Maine hospitals and underserved areas periodically semiannually to determine which hospitals/areas are recruiting physicians and other health care providers by specialty and refer all inquiring physicians, nurse/midwife practitioners and physician assistants, dental health and mental health providers to appropriate vacancies.

Funding Source: Bureau of Primary Health Care, HRSA,DHHS

For information, contact:

Charles E. Dwyer
Telephone: (207) 287-5524
e-mail: charles.dwyer@maine.gov

Publications

A Plan for Improving Rural Health in Maine (pdf file)
If you would like to comment on this draft of the Rural Health Plan please forward your input to charles.dwyer@maine.gov

Health Care Workforce Leadership Council Final Report (pdf file)

Maine's Health Professional Shortage Areas

Data sites for:
health professional shortage areas
medically underserved areas/medically underserved populations

Maps (pdf files)
Federally Designated Medically Underserved Areas and Populations 2007
Federally Designated Primary Care Health Professional Shortage Areas 2007
Federally Designated Dental Health Professional Shortage Areas 2007
Federally Designated Mental Health Professional Shortage Areas 2007
Current Health Care Safety Net Providers and Sites 2006

Designation process
Federal Health Professional Shortage Area Designation Process

Related Websites:

J1 Visa Waiver Option (Homepage)
Bureau of Primary Health Care-Online Databases
National Health Service Corps
Federal Grant Opportunities
Bureau of Primary Health
Federal Office of Rural Health Policy

MAINE CDC INFORMATION

INFO FOR HEALTH PROVIDERS

Office of Rural Health and Primary Care