This collaborative project examined and described the current staffing needs of rural health centers (RHCs), ascertained the staffing, recruitment, and retention issues that rural health center CEOs regard as most critical; distinguished how issues differ between CEOs contemplating development of expansion sites versus those who are not; and described how these findings correlate with the literature and current national supply projections for the categories of health professions needed by the RHCs.

RHCs face major barriers in recruiting and retaining health professionals, yet there are no projections of key health professions' staffing needs for RHCs and proposed new RHCs. While RHCs report on staffing via the Uniform Data System, this does not include critical information on vacancies, recruitment and retention, and other important issues. The National Association of Community Health Centers administered a mail questionnaire to the CEOs of all RHCs that examines current vacancies, projected staffing needs, recruitment and retention issues, center site expansion plans, and CEO perception of policies that would facilitate recruitment and retention. The WWAMI Rural Health Research Center was involved in the analysis of these data, and a joint report with the South Carolina Rural Health Research Center will be produced. This project is a collaboration between the federal Office of Rural Health Policy, the Bureau of Primary Health Care, and the Bureau of Health Professions.

Publications

• Dentist Vacancies in Federally Funded Health Centers
  WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
  Date: 12/2005
  This project summary presents results for dentists from a study of staffing needs at Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs). It provides information on dentist vacancy rates by rural and urban location and compares dentist vacancies to other healthcare provider vacancies at FQHCs.
• Family Physician Vacancies in Federally Funded Health Centers
  WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
  Date: 11/2005
  This project summary presents results for family physicians from a study of staffing needs at Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs). The summary provides information on family physician vacancy rates by rural and urban location and compares family physician vacancies to other physician vacancies at FQHCs.
• Health Center Expansion and Recruitment Survey 2004: Results by Health and Human Services Regions and Health Center Geography
  WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
  Date: 03/2007
  This report presents findings from the national study of health centers' staffing, recruitment, and retention. It provides information by Health and Human Services region, urban and rural geography, and national overall estimates.
• Registered Nurse Vacancies in Federally Funded Health Centers
  WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
  Date: 12/2006
  This project summary discusses the registered nurse vacancy rate in federally funded health centers, which varies by degree of rurality.
• Results of the 2004 Health Center Expansion and Recruitment Survey for Health Centers: Analyses for Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho (WWAMI States)
  WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
  Date: 11/2006
  This report presents a subset of the findings from the larger national study of Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) staffing needs of FQHCs located in Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho (WWAMI) overall and by urban and rural geography.
• Shortages of Medical Personnel At Community Health Centers: Implications for Planned Expansion
  Journal Article
  WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
  Date: 2006
  Examines the status of workforce shortages that may limit Community Health Center (CHC) expansion by surveying all 846 federally-funded US CHCs that directly provide clinical services and are within the 50 states and the District of Columbia.