Norvell Emerson: “Dear Congresswoman Emerson: I write to convey the National Rural Health Association's (NRHA) strong support for your…”

“Dear Congresswoman Emerson: I write to convey the National Rural Health Association's (NRHA) strong support for your proposed amendment to H.R. 2264, the Fiscal Year 1998 Labor- HHS-Education Appropriations bill. The amendment, which calls for the Secretary of HHS to certify to Congress that any plan the Department accepts from teaching institutions to voluntarily reduce the number of residents in its program will not lead to a reduction in the amount of primary care physicians who will be available to practice in underserved rural areas, is a vital step in ensuring rural Americans have access to primary care services. Residency training programs have historically never been correlated with our country's work force needs, but instead, have grown up to meet the service needs of urban and suburban-based teaching hospitals. This has led to a grossly disproportionate distribution of physicians and training of specialists. Before any type of residency reduction program is implemented nationally, the continuing shortage of primary care physicians in rural and frontier area must be addressed.”