WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is directing $11.2 million to 15 new physician residency programs across 14 states, expanding rural and tribal medical training as the government seeks to build a longer-term physician workforce in underserved communities.
The grants, administered through the Health Resources and Services Administration, will support new residency programs in family medicine, internal medicine, preventive medicine, psychiatry and general surgery.
Each recipient can receive as much as $750,000 over three years through the Rural Residency Planning and Development Program.
The funding covers the work required to establish a residency program, including securing accreditation, developing curricula, recruiting and developing faculty, and recruiting residents.
Recipients must also develop long-term financing plans using Medicare, Medicaid or other public and private funding sources, an effort intended to keep the residency programs operating after the federal planning grants expire.
The awards extend a federal rural physician-training initiative established in 2019. HHS said HRSA has invested nearly $77 million through the program across 36 states and one territory.
As of July 2026, those investments had produced 66 accredited rural residency programs, 818 approved residency positions and more than 850 physicians enrolled in rural training settings, according to HHS.
“Where you live should not determine whether you can find a doctor,” HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said. He said placing physician training programs directly in rural and tribal communities is intended to expand the local medical workforce and improve access to care.
The grant structure reflects an effort to turn federal start-up funding into permanent training capacity rather than finance residency programs indefinitely. Award recipients will be responsible for identifying sustainable funding sources beyond the three-year federal grant period.
“With the nation facing health workforce shortages today, we need to build the pipeline now,” HRSA Administrator Tom Engels said.
The Rural Residency Planning and Development Program is designed to establish accredited residency programs in rural settings, with the broader objective of increasing the number of physicians trained to practice in those communities.
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