Sen. Sanders and Administrator Johnson will be available for media following the roundtable discussion at UVM
Vermont Business Magazine Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) on Friday will welcome Carole Johnson, Administrator of the Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA), to Vermont to meet with health care providers and educators. The discussions will cover a range of health care issues in Vermont, including the health care workforce crisis, Vermont’s extensive Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) network, and opportunities to support and strengthen primary health care across the state.
HRSA, an agency within the US Department of Health and Human Services, oversees federal initiatives to support the primary health care workforce, including the National Health Service Corps and Nurse Corps, and the delivery of primary care to more than 30 million people – including over 180,000 Vermonters – through FQHCs.
On Friday morning, Sen. Sanders and Administrator Carole Johnson will hold a roundtable discussion on the workforce crisis at the University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine.
In the afternoon, they will visit Gifford Health Care in Randolph and meet with the directors of Vermont’s FQHCs to discuss how their community health centers are meeting the primary, mental, and oral health care needs of nearly one-in-three Vermonters and ways the federal government can support their efforts to serve more Vermonters across the state.
Nationally, the United States faces a massive health care workforce shortage. The Association of American Medical Colleges predicts a shortage of up to 124,000 physicians by 2034, with primary care alone facing a shortage of up to 48,000. In Vermont as of 2018, there were 2,473 practicing physicians with 25% in primary care. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic began, it was estimated Vermont needed to add approximately 9,000 nurses to the state’s workforce in the next seven years and provide 50 additional full-time nursing instructors.
However, Vermont’s nursing schools are currently only able to graduate fewer than half of the number of nurses needed to keep up with retirements and those leaving the workforce. Additionally, in the U.S. today, over 100 million Americans have trouble paying for the health care they need.
Federally Qualified Health Centers provide high-quality, affordable care regardless of a person’s health insurance status or ability to pay. FQHCs provide primary care services on a sliding fee scale and offer affordable prescription drugs.
BURLINGTON, Vt., Aug. 25 – Senator Bernie Sanders