Grant aimed at increasing medical staff in West Tennessee

JACKSON, Tenn. — A new medical grant that targets rural Tennessee was recently passed.

The Rural Health Association was recently awarded a $75,000 grant from Amerigroup Tennessee to increase the number of medical professionals in rural Tennessee.

Jacy Warrell, Director of Rural Tennessee, says smaller counties are in desperate need of medical professionals.

“Ninety-one out of 95 of Tennessee counties are considered health professional shortage areas. Even before COVID we had a challenge in recruitment and retaining health care,” Warrell said.

Warrell says most students tend to dismiss health care due to a misunderstanding of the amount of jobs within the medical field.

“A lot of people don’t know that there are jobs outside of being a doctor, dentist, or nurse in health care. There’s a patient care task, nursing assistance, EKG, phlebotomy,” Warrell said.

She says this program is designed to help those in need by creating opportunities that would not have been available to select individuals.

“What this program will allow us to do is to help identify people that are interested in health care and support them in getting that first certification, getting that job and removing any barriers they may have,” Warrell said.

She says if anyone in West Tennessee is looking for a new opportunity or just a change of scenery, this program could be the perfect start for you.

“This apprentice program is a good place to start. It helps expose people and introduce them to a health care setting, get some experience and then hopefully have some support along the way to make them successful,” Warrell said.

If your interested in becoming a medical professional, visit your local college and medical institute for more information.

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