Incentive Programs
Purpose of Incentive Programs
To improve and increase access to quality health care providers in Virginia’s Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs). In the future, VDH, OHE, will work to diversify the healthcare workforce, and ensure standards for on-going learning on cultural humility and equity. For more information, please click here.
Foreign National Physicians Incentives
Virginia offers incentive opportunities for J-1 providers in exchange for employment service in Virginia’s Health Professional Shortage Areas and Medically Underserved Areas.
September 1st to August 31st
The Virginia Conrad 30 J-1 Visa Waiver Program agrees to waive the “two-year home country physical presence requirement” by sponsoring J-1 Physicians who agree to serve in designated shortage areas of the Commonwealth. This national physician’s exchange agreement is for a three-year service obligation in a health professional shortage area (HPSA) or medically underserved area (MUA) in Virginia. The Commonwealth’s participation in the Conrad 30 Waiver Program enables VDH to act on behalf of the Commonwealth and request waivers for eligible J-1 Physicians. VDH may act as an interested state agency to request up to 30 J-1 visa waivers per year.
October 1st to August 31st
In addition to its participation in the Conrad 30 Waiver Program, the Commonwealth also participates in the Appalachian Regional Commission’s (ARC) J-1 Visa Waiver Program. ARC is a federal government agency that considers J-1 visa waiver requests by state governors on behalf of medical facilities located in Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs) in the respective state's Appalachian Region. If the employer is located in an Appalachian region of the Commonwealth, VDH will forward the application for processing by the ARC as an interested government agency.
Year Round
The National Interest Waiver is a waiver of the job offer requirement for foreign nationals who would like to obtain permanent residence in the United States in the employment based second preference category. The required service obligation is five years.
Year Round
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is responsible for managing the U.S. Exchange Visitor Program as it relates to health research and clinical care. This program accepts applications to request waiver of the 2-year foreign residency requirement related to research performed in an area of priority or significant interest to the agency, and/or health care services needed in a Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) in the United States. Physicians with J-1 visas must agree to deliver health care services for three years in a mental health or primary care HPSA.
Loan Repayment Options
Virginia offers several loan repayment opportunities to help reduce education debt in exchange for employment service in Virginia. Loan Repayment options of up to $100,000 are available for eligible providers working in Health Professional Shortage Areas and Medically Underserves Areas in Virginia.
January 1st- March 31st
The Virginia State Loan Repayment Program (VA-SLRP) is a federal grant from the Health Resources Services Administration (HRSA), Bureau of Health Professions and is administered by the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) Office of Health Equity (OHE). VA-SLRP grants participants educational loan repayment of up to $100,000 in exchange for at least two years of service in a Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) in Virginia. There are two extensions to this program: Virginia Dental Loan Repayment Program and Virginia State Loan Repayment Program, Tobacco Region.
April 1st - June 1st
Despite significant dental workforce shortages, oral health remains an essential need in many Virginia communities. The Delta Dental of Virginia Foundation is committed to addressing these shortfalls with a one-year student loan repayment program designed to help Virginia dentists and dental hygienists in exchange for 12 months of service with a safety-net clinic. Awards range from $10,000 for hygienist and to $20,000 for Dentist.
January 1st - March 31st
Applicants applying specifically for the Tobacco region funds, must meet all of the Virginia State Loan Repayment Program guidelines and live and work in the Tobacco Region. No matching funds required.
October 1st - April 15th
Virginia Behavioral Health Loan Repayment Program (BH-LRP) focuses on recruiting and retaining behavioral health (BH) professionals to practice in underserved areas of the Commonwealth and/or provide counseling and treatment to underserved populations. This program will repay a portion of an eligible BH professional's student loan debt of up to $30,000 a year. In return, recipients commit to practicing in Virginia for a minimum of two years at an eligible site.
February 28th - April 25th (2023)
The Nation Health Service Corp Loan Repayment Program provides options for provides to work in Virginia in exchange for debt reduction. VDH provides technical assistance for these programs administered on the federal level.
Nursing Scholarships
Virginia offers several scholarship opportunities to help pay for nursing education in exchange for service in Virginia after graduation. Scholarships of up to $20,000 are available for students enrolled in an approved nurse education program in Virginia.
February 15th - April 15th
Mary Marshall Nursing scholarships are for students enrolled in undergraduate nursing programs. Undergraduate nursing programs are defined as those leading to a diploma, an associate degree, or a baccalaureate degree in nursing to become Licensed Practical Nurses and Registered Nurses. Scholarships Under the law, an Advisory Committee appointed by the State Board of Health makes all scholarship awards of $2,000.
Year Round
The Mary Marshall Nursing Scholarship and loan repayment for CNA’s will help pay awards of up to $1,000 for nursing education in exchange for service at a long-term care facility in Virginia after graduation. Scholarships are available for students enrolled in or have graduated from an approved nurse education program in Virginia or who are currently working as a Certified Nursing Assistant in the state of Virginia. The program must prepare them for examination for licensure as a Certified Nursing Assistant.
Year Round
The Mary Marshall Nursing Scholarship and loan repayment Long-term Care CNA’s will help pay awards of up to $1,000 for nursing education in exchange for service at a long-term care facility in Virginia after graduation. Scholarships are available for students enrolled in or have graduated from an approved nurse education program in Virginia or who are currently working as a Certified Nursing Assistant in the state of Virginia. The program must prepare them for examination for licensure as a Certified Nursing Assistant.
September 15th - November 30th
The Nurse Practitioner/ Nurse Midwife Scholarship Program provides scholarship of up to $$20,000 awards to students who agree to practice full-time as a Nurse Practitioner or Nurse Midwife in a medically underserved area of Virginia. Awards are based on scholastic attainment, financial need, character, and adaptability to the The Nurse Practitioner/ Nurse Midwife specialty.
September 1st - November 30th
The Nurse Educator Scholarship Program is intended for part-time and full-time master’s and doctoral level nursing students. Awards are based on scholastic attainment, financial need, character, and adaptability to the Nurse Educator specialty. Program provides scholarship of up to $20,000 awards to students who agree to practice Full-time employment must begin within 12 months of completing the educational for two years.
September 15th - November 30th
The Long-term Care Facility Nursing Scholarship is available for students enrolled in an accredited nursing school who agree to engage in full-time nursing practice as a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) or Registered Nurse (RN) in a long-term care facility in Virginia upon graduation. For each $2,000 of scholarship money received, the participant agrees to engage in the equivalent of one year of full-time nursing practice in a long-term care facility in the Commonwealth.
Now - April 27th, 2023
The Nation Health Service Corp scholarship Program provides options for providers to work in Virginia in exchange for scholarship funds. VDH provides technical assistance for these programs administered on the federal level. https://nhsc.hrsa.gov/scholarships/current-scholars
Other Incentive Programs
Virginia offers incentive opportunities for uncompensated professionals in Virginia.
Year Round
The Nursing Preceptor Incentive Program (NPIP) provides financial incentives of up to $1,000 for practitioners who serve as otherwise uncompensated preceptors for APRN students to help increase access to care, address the primary care shortage, handle mental health crises, and manage chronic diseases. All of these factors are crucial in improving the health and wellness of all Virginians.
Role of the Virginia PCO:
Placing shortage designations requires strategy beyond the scoring criteria used by HRSA. Virginia PCO works to identify shortage areas quickly (HPSAs or MUA/Ps) so that we may actively work to decrease the degree of shortage until a designation is no longer necessary. We do this by engaging with stakeholders from a given community to learn their specific concerns. The most likely trade-off is that a population HPSA will have a more competitive score for recruitment, while Geographic HPSAs have less competitive scores but can use the 10% Medicare bonus CMS gives for physician services to invest in upgrading the site itself. We have now diversified the incentive programs enough to ensure that sites that need to both upgrade and recruit providers have options to reach both goals. We believe that this holistic approach to shortage designation and incentive programs will help us to address more nuanced, multi-factor cases of health inequity.
HPSA 101:
A federal Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) is a determination of where limited federal resources may be placed. HPSAs were created by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Base Approach for Determining Greatest Shortages:
HPSA scores are based on a variety of factors and range from 0 to 25 in the case of Primary Care and Mental Health, and 0 to 26 in the case of Dental Health.
There are 3 factors that determine the eligibility of a HPSA, regardless of discipline (primary care, dental and mental health).
- population-to-provider ratio
- poverty rate
- travel distance/time to nearest accessible source of care
The Virginia Designation Manager analyzes the data and submits to HRSA using a federal data and geomapping system. HRSA does not always agree with our determination and justification on the first attempt. Each HPSA application goes through 3 levels of review and all 3 reviewers must be satisfied for a designation to be granted or rescored. There is no limit on the number of submissions we can make. HRSA will also do an automatic rescore of all HPSAs every 2-3 years. The Virginia PCO makes continuous updates to the federal provider datasets to ensure this is as non-disruptive as possible.
J-1 Physician Retention
 
Serving the Underserved
 My name is Dr. Jed Duensing, and I would like to share some of my story and thanks for the help I have received from the State of Virginia and the Office of Health Equity. I moved to Virginia just over 5 years ago with my wife who was pregnant. I started working in a rural FQHC in 2015 with a daunting loan debt. The loan repayment I was offered allowed me to be of service to an underserved population, and not have to seek higher paying positions to pay off my debt. I am thankful for the loan repayment, professionalism, and kindness, which I have received.
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