In ‘Reversal of Fortune,’ West Virginia Attracting ‘Scores’ of Health Care Providers to Rural Areas

With the help of two state programs, West Virginia has steadily improved the quality of its rural health care system, mostly by "attracting scores of [health] professionals ... to restock its most rural outposts," the New York Times reports. The level of health care in the state "spiraled ... toward the bottom nationally" after coal mining camps "died off," and company doctors left the state. Further, although the state had "three booming medical schools and no shortage of health care education," it was "losing many of its best and brightest [students] to other states." But now, West Virginia has experienced a "reversal of fortune" -- in the last 10 years, the state has recruited 92 primary care physicians and 51 accredited physician's assistants. One program requires the state's medical students to complete some of their residency in rural areas. Under the 10-year-old Rural Health Education Partnerships, each month 130 students rotate through 295 training stations, following local providers as they treat patients. Community leaders arrange free housing for the students and "shepherd" them through their minimum three-month stay. The program receives $7.5 million per year from the state and additional funding from the Kellogg Foundation. Many of the program's students find "a certain seed of yearning planted during their rural service that flowers best in the old coal towns of Appalachia" and choose to remain in those areas, the Times reports. Last year after completing their residencies, 31 students decided to practice primary care in West Virginia. Hilda Heady, the program's executive director, said, "Those who stay are usually either mavericks or missionaries, and I'm grateful for both." Medical student Karen Russell, who has "resolved" to remain in rural practice after her studies are completed, added, "Out here its much more fulfilling. You're helping small-town people who otherwise have to drive hours to get the care they desperately need."

Helping High School Students
Another program, the Health Sciences Technology Academy, gives West Virginia high school students in 22 poor, rural counties the opportunity to "discover" the state's college campuses and to "master math and science courses as the first step toward health care careers" in the state. Marshall University, the University of West Virginia and the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine participate in the program. Dr. Robert D'Alessandri, dean of the University of West Virginia's Health Sciences Center, said, "Ten years ago, we heard clearly from political leaders that the university was in isolation and not addressing the health needs of the state. But now I'd say the program has become the exemplar for the rest of the university on how to deal with our communities" (Clines, New York Times, 6/21).