Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed into law Wednesday her legislative proposal to increase physician training options and rural health care accessibility, a step she said will help ease burdens on rural hospitals and increase patients’ health outcomes across the state.
Reynolds signed House File 972 at Guthrie County Hospital in Guthrie Center, one of many rural health providers she said will benefit from the measure. The law, which she first introduced in February, includes multiple components. It directs the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services to create a “hub-and-spoke” funding model for rural health care services based on the current Centers of Excellence Program and makes changes to Iowa Medicaid rates for providers serving mothers and infants.
Reynolds said improving rural health care access “starts with growing our physician workforce.” To address health care workforce shortages, the law makes changes to Iowa’s training and residency programs — HHS is also directed to work to draw down $150 million in federal funding that will go toward the creation of a projected 115 new residency slots at Iowa teaching hospitals. Reynolds said this expansion will help Iowa retain more of the health care providers who went to school in Iowa.
“Doctors often decide to practice where they do their residency,” Reynolds said. “Today, Iowa ranks 40th in the number of residency slots … which means many of our (medical graduates) don’t get chance to continue their training here.”
The new residency slots are one way to encourage medical providers to stay in the state — another part of the law works to provide an incentive to health care providers by consolidating the state’s medical student loan repayment programs to a new system with a boost of $8 million in funding, opening the program to individuals who are trained out-of-state who commit to practicing in high-demand areas of Iowa for five years.
Other medical professions, like Registered Nurses and Certified Nursing Assistants, can also receive funding for training through the Health Care Professional Incentive Program, with Iowa HHS designating what fields are in high demand and eligible for the program.
Chris Stipe, the CEO of Guthrie County Hospital, thanked Reynolds for pursuing this measure, saying her administration has prioritized improving health care providers’ “ability to recruit and retain health care workers in rural Iowa.”
“It’s no secret, there’s a physician shortage and a nurse shortage, but let’s be honest, there’s a shortage of all qualified healthcare workers in nearly every field,” Stipe said. “And workforce shortages are often more severe in smaller communities. If we are to continue to effectively care for our rural Iowa communities, critical strategies such as loan forgiveness programs and graduate medical education programs must be funded and expanded and run efficiently.”
He also thanked Reynolds for signing a bill on health care workers’ safety. She also signed House File 310 Wednesday, a bill that expands the definition of “health care provider” under existing laws that provide increased penalties — a Class D felony — for assaulting people in certain occupations. The new definition would raise the criminal charges for assaulting anyone who is working, volunteering or participating in education at a hospital or rural emergency hospital.
Reynolds said the measure is necessary to address increasing cases of violence occurring at health care facilities.
In addition to signing these two health care measures, the governor also signed a slate of bills into law Tuesday. The bills she signed include:
- House File 856, a measure banning state entities, including local governments and community colleges, from spending funds or opening diversity, equity and inclusion offices and officials.
- House File 865, a change to Iowa’s definition of “bullying and harassment,” removing reference to bullying as acts and conduct based on “any actual or perceived trait or characteristic” that lists characteristics like age, religion, race, sexual orientation and disability as potential traits a student could targeted for. The new definition states bullying is defined as “repeated and targete” acts and conduct that create a hostile school environment for a student.
- Senate File 608, increasing the grain indemnity fund maximum of $16 million and minimum of $8 million to help cover farmers’ losses in credit-sale contracts.
- House File 889, Reynolds’ proposal to provide four weeks of paid parental leave to stay employees within 12 months of birth or adoption.
- Senate File 369, another of the governor’s goals, that requires Iowa high school students pass the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services naturalization civics test with at least 60% to graduate beginning in the 2026-2027 school year.
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