Recruitment and Retention for Rural Health Facilities – Models and Innovations
These stories feature model programs and successful rural projects that can serve as a source of ideas and provide lessons others have learned. Some of the projects or programs may no longer be active. Read about the criteria and evidence-base for programs included.
Other Project Examples
Rural Recruitment Reimagined Workshop Presents the "Safe Sites" Model
Updated/reviewed April 2024
- Need: Strategies to recruit and retain providers to practice in rural settings.
- Intervention: A traveling one-day workshop was designed to share ideas and firsthand accounts on successful strategies on how to create "Safe Sites" for new recruits.
- Results: So far, workshops have trained over 250 hospital administrators, board members, and rural hospital recruiters.
Hawai'i Island Family Medicine Residency
Updated/reviewed January 2024
- Need: Hawai'i is experiencing a severe shortage of family medicine physicians.
- Intervention: The Hawai'i Island Family Medicine Residency (HIFMR) program uses an interprofessional team-based approach so residents learn how to care for many types of patients in different healthcare settings.
- Results: Since 2017, HIFMR has graduated a class of 3 to 6 Board-certified family medicine physicians annually. Most graduates have remained in the state to practice medicine; those who have left have entered fellowship programs and plan to return to Hawai'i Island to practice.
University of Minnesota Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Rural Rotation
Added December 2023
- Need: To address shortages of nurse practitioners and mental health professionals in rural Minnesota.
- Intervention: The University of Minnesota (UMN) School of Nursing implemented a 40-hour rural rotation for students in the psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner program.
- Results: 29 students completed rural rotations in communities across the state; several students voiced a new openness to practicing in a rural area after participating in the program.
Mountain Area Health Education Center (MAHEC) Rural Fellowship
Added August 2023
- Need: To increase recruitment and retention of health professionals in rural western North Carolina.
- Intervention: The Mountain Area Health Education Center (MAHEC) Rural Fellowship offers mentorship, education, research support, and community-building opportunities for local providers in their first year of practice.
- Results: Of the 30 fellows who have completed the program since 2017, 97% are still practicing in rural areas; 87% are still practicing in rural western North Carolina.
Health Profession Rural Summer Immersion Program
Updated/reviewed June 2023
- Need: To expose medical and physician assistant students to rural healthcare practices and a rural lifestyle.
- Intervention: A two-week immersion program for second-year students to experience rural healthcare and rural life in Connecticut and New York.
- Results: In post-program evaluations from 2016 to 2018, 50% of students reported being very likely to practice in a rural setting, compared to just over 10% of students before the program.
Avera LIGHT
Updated/reviewed March 2021
- Need: Assistance for urban and rural physicians — as well as other healthcare providers — who are experiencing burnout and other issues associated with well-being.
- Intervention: As part of its provider well-being focus in its rural and urban facilities, Avera Health system has created a program which attends to physician wellness issues starting with recruitment with continued support through retirement.
- Results: With increasing engagement due to word of mouth, the program creates a culture of wellness where stigma is decreased and providers are encouraged to be proactive in reaching out for assistance for issues related to their personal and professional well-being.
Last Updated: 4/23/2024