Incentive program for doctors in rural areas pushed

CNMI Resident Representative Pedro A. Tenorio has appealed for the swift passage of S. 2762 and H.R. 5707, the Conrad 30 State Improvement Act. In letters to the U.S. Senate and House Judiciary Committees, Tenorio expressed his support of the bill that will provide incentives to physicians to practice in rural and medically underserved communities like the CNMI.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has for some time designated the CNMI as a Health Professional Shortage Area, allowing the Department of Public Health to participate in programs designed to assist isolated communities with staffing of primary care physicians and mid-level providers. These include the National Health Service Corps and Loan Repayment Programs. Participation in the Conrad State 30 Program will further allow the CNMI to address its long-standing health care provider shortage by attracting foreign physicians who have completed a U.S. residency training program. Through this program, foreign medical school graduates may work in the CNMI and be granted a J1 visa waiver to continue staying in the U.S. while serving under-represented populations. Normally, the physician must return to his/her own country for at least two years before applying for a permanent visa in the United States. A J-1 Visa Waiver eliminates the two year home residency requirement, allowing the physician to remain and practice in the United States.

In February 2008, S.2672 was introduced which would reauthorize Conrad 30 and the J-1 visa program indefinitely. Physicians on H-1B visas would also be able to participate in the program and be exempted from the H1-B visa cap. The J-1 waiver program will be applied to specialists as well as primary care physicians. The program is named after Senator Kent Conrad of North Dakota who in 1994 created the “Conrad 20” to address the shortage of physicians in medically underserved areas.

“It is no secret that we have always had difficulty recruiting and retaining health care professionals to serve in the CNMI. This program provides an important source of qualified physicians for underserved areas and its reauthorization will go a long way in assuring that CNMI residents have consistent access to reliable health care providers. This is a vital medical workforce issue that must be addressed to improve quality medical care in underserved areas like the CNMI,” Tenorio said.

“Previously, the CNMI would not have been able to benefit from such a program. However, the enactment of the immigration provisions in P.L. 110-229 will ultimately make the CNMI more attractive to U.S. trained foreign physicians which should help alleviate the staffing needs of our health care system,” he added. [B][I](PR)[/I][/B]