A new federal program will repay up to $75,000 in student loans for health care clinicians who treat drug addiction in underserved areas.
“The goal is to ensure that sites that provide evidence-based care have the workforce to deliver care,” said Israil Ali, director of the Division of National Health Service Corps, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services agency that is overseeing the program.
Employees of 89 Massachusetts substance use treatment facilities can potentially be eligible. Some of these sites include Spectrum Health Systems’ treatment centers in Worcester and North Adams, Providence Behavioral Health Hospital’s opioid treatment center in Holyoke, and programs run by Baystate and by the Springfield Public Health Department.
The substance use disorder loan forgiveness program is an expansion of another program run by the federal agency, which offers loan repayment to doctors who work in underserved areas. The substance use program offers $75,000 in loan repayment in exchange for a commitment to work at a designated site in an underserved area for three years. There is a similar program for part-time workers. It is open not only to doctors but to nurses, pharmacists and substance use disorder counselors.
The program was launched Dec. 27 as a way to address the growing epidemic of opioid addiction in the country. It is funded with $75 million for the first year, and program officials hope to repay the loans of 1,100 clinicians.
Gabriel Wishik, a doctor who works for Boston Health Care for the Homeless, started working there through a loan repayment program from the same federal agency. Wishik said being able to offer loan repayment helps attract qualified candidates and increase the number of clinicians working the field.
People with substance use disorder today often struggle to find treatment, and the state has been working to open new treatment beds. The program will not do anything to address the ongoing problem of low reimbursement rates, including by public insurance programs, for addiction treatment, which makes it hard for these units to remain profitable.
But Wishik said “there is a shortage at every single level in the treatment continuum,” including the workforce.
“There are lots of competing career paths. It’s one way to get people into this career,” he said.
Correction: The number of clinicians whose loans will be repaid was updated, based on corrected information provided by the Health Resources and Services Administration.