New bill aims to solve healthcare shortage by offering med school scholarships for underserved areas

OLYMPIA - It’s no secret that medical school is expensive and daunting for some students, and so is the possible addition of more student loans.

The thought of going into further debt with the looming cloud of undergrad student loans is enough to steer certain students away from the field. Those who choose to push through toward medical school face the challenge of how to pay off their debt after graduation.

Rep. Carolyn Eslick, R-Sultan, introduced a bill to the Legislature’s Postsecondary Education and Workforce Committee on Tuesday that aims to provide conditional scholarships to support students and professionals transitioning into behavioral health care higher education.

Under the conditional scholarship, recipients are required to work for three years in an underserved community of need.

“What are we going to do about the crisis that we have with behavioral health counselors, we don’t have enough; we all know that we don’t have enough,” Eslick said.

Behavioral health providers, such as psychologists, psychiatrists and social workers, are professionals who deal with mental health issues in clients.

The Behavioral Health Scholarship Program is an extension of the Behavioral Health Loan Repayment Plan, one of four existing aid programs under the Washington Health Corps. This program uses conditional scholarships to recruit and incentivize behavioral health providers within their first couple of years post-grad to work in underserved areas with a shortage of providers. The loan repayment plan aims to retain professionals who are working in behavioral health care fields.

This is not the first time Eslick has brought this bill forward. A couple of years ago, the bill passed through the House and Senate and was signed by Gov. Jay Inslee. The bill went stale within the Washington Health Corps, however, because there wasn’t a distinct definition that included behavioral health scholarships, she said.

Rep. Suzanne Schmidt, R-Spokane Valley, said she is in support of the proposed bill. Her son works for a behavioral health agency and has experienced the growing need for more behavioral professionals and the lack of people wanting to join the profession.

“While we were talking about the scholarships and programs I was thinking, ‘I wish we had those available when he went to school,’ because he has some debt and has to pay for schooling,” Schmidt said. “It is a master’s-level and Ph.D.-level profession.”

During public testimony, Anna Nepomuceno, director of public policy and advocacy of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, said Washington state’s behavioral health care workforce lacks in both numbers and diversity.

“Due to the cost of tuition and licensure, behavioral health professions have been inaccessible to marginalized communities, leading to increased inequities in our current behavioral health care system,” Nepomuceno said. “Many individuals from BIPOC communities prefer therapists and counselors who come from their communities who can understand and relate with their struggles, and they often go without care if they’re unable to find a provider they feel comfortable with.”

In 2021, more than 80% of the psychology workforce was white, while just under 8% was Hispanic and roughly 5% was Black, according to the American Psychology Association.

The proposed scholarship will help increase accessibility for disadvantaged and rural communities, diversifying the workplace so all Washingtonians can have their needs met, Nepomuceno said.

David Sullivan testified as one of the first recipients of a behavioral health conditional scholarship/grant. He said it relieved him of his financial burden as tuition for graduate school can present a hefty bill.

The bill is scheduled for an executive session on Friday in the House Committee on Postsecondary Education and Workforce.