Additional funding has been appropriated for the development of postgraduate Nurse Practitioner Training Programs in 2020.
In June 2019, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)’s Bureau of Health Workforce provided $20 million for the development of new postgraduate Nurse Practitioner Residency Programs. The funding was made available in support of HRSA’s new Advanced Nursing Education Nurse Practitioner Residency (ANE-NPR) program, for which HRSA awarded 36 (four-year) grants to entities in 24 states. In posting the awards, HRSA stated that the program’s purpose is “to increase primary care providers in community-based settings” by preparing nurse practitioners for practice using “clinical and academic focused 12-month Nurse Practitioner Residency (NPR) programs.” See: https://bhw.hrsa.gov/funding-opportunities/ane-npr The funding was authorized pursuant to Section 811 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 296j).
More recently, on December 20, 2019, the President signed into law the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2020, which contains additional funding for workforce programs administered by HRSA, including $5,000,000 to establish or expand optional postgraduate community-based nurse practitioner training programs, which are accredited or in the accreditation process, with a preference for those in Federally Qualified Health Centers. The provision states that it is applicable to nurse practitioners in primary care or behavioral health. House appropriations staff have indicated that they will pursue additional funding for these programs in the upcoming FY 2021 funding cycle. This latest appropriation is referenced at page 24 of Public Law 116-94, the text of which is provided here: https://www.congress.gov/116/bills/hr1865/BILLS-116hr1865enr.pdf
Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, the U.S. Representative for Connecticut’s 3rd Congressional District and Chair of the House Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee, was absolutely critical to securing this most recent funding for the program. She and the entire Connecticut congressional delegation have long been supporters of postgraduate nurse practitioner residency training since its earliest days, when the Community Health Center, Inc. of Middletown, Connecticut launched the nation’s first formal postgraduate Nurse Practitioner Residency Training Program in 2007. Shortly thereafter, U.S. Representatives DeLauro, Courtney, Larson and then-U.S. House Member (now U.S. Senator) Chris Murphy requested and obtained funding for the program in the Fiscal Year 2010 Consolidated Appropriations Act, which was enacted in December 2009 and included $225,000 in support of the program.
Today we thank Chair DeLauro, as well as all other members of the Connecticut congressional delegation, for their continued support – we especially want to thank Rep. Joe Courtney. Rep. Courtney wrote and circulated a Dear Colleague letter in support of funding the program, which was sent to House appropriators last year. The letter was signed by nearly all of the Connecticut congressional delegation’s House members, as well as by Representatives Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), Doug Lamborn (R-CO), Kurt Schrader (D-OR), Doug LaMalfa (R-CA), and Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI). Others who have expressed an interest in signing onto a future letter, now in the works, include Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Juan Vargas (D-CA), and others. Should you wish to interest your Member of Congress in signing onto this year’s support letter, please contact us so we can provide you with a copy of the letter and follow up with you at your earliest convenience.
