NWA to gain residency slots for future doctors
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Washington Regional Medical Center in Fayetteville has a plan and the money to add another batch of residency slots for medical school graduates, part of 82 planned residencies announced in 2021.
Why it matters: NWA suffers a shortage of doctors in specialty areas, and doctors tend to practice near where they completed their residencies, Washington Regional CEO Larry Shackelford told Axios.
- Hospitals in NWA have had to recruit specialty doctors from outside the region due to a lack of residencies.
- Of the 26 newly added slots, 18 will be in emergency medicine and eight will be in neurology.
State of play: The state's Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review (PEER) Joint Budget Committee in late February approved $4.5 million to pay for the slots.
- Some medical marijuana revenue is earmarked to pay for the additional graduate medical education, Shackelford said.
- The 26 residencies will start in 2026 and 2027. The programs are in partnership with the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.
Background: NWA has historically only had residencies in family practice and internal medicine.
- A 2019 report from the Northwest Arkansas Council found that a lack of specialty health care services was a factor in NWA patients seeking care out of the region and preventing people from coming to NWA for services.
Between the lines: Washington Regional is actively trying to become a Level 1 trauma center, though it's probably still a few years away, Shackelford said.
- Having an emergency medicine training program that the hospital will build through these new residencies is a requirement of a Level 1 designation.
Context: Emergency departments with the level 1 designation can treat almost all medical emergencies, and having a level 1 trauma center in NWA is a recommendation in the Northwest Arkansas Council's latest health care report.
What's next: Thanks to the new Alice L. Walton School of Medicine, NWA can expect an increase in medical school graduates who will need start a residency in 2029.