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Health care workers with ties to Hawaii can receive up to $50,000 in annual loan repayments if they commit to helping patients on the islands for at least two years.
Last session, the Legislature approved $30 million in funding for loan payments, which is part of a larger effort to attract expat health care workers back to Hawaii and retain local talent.
The “Come On Home Program” is administered by the University of Hawaii’s John A. Burns School of Medicine, which also assists returning health care workers in finding jobs.
Dr. Kelley Withy, who holds three positions at JABSOM, sees the program as a means to raise salaries, develop affordable housing specifically for health care workers, and ultimately increase the number of health care workers with local ties.
Hawaii is currently in need of approximately 4,000 health care workers, particularly in the neighbor islands and rural Oahu.
When asked how many Hawaii-based health care workers she hopes to recruit and retain, Withy stated, “My ballpark number is everybody.”
The loan repayments will be directly sent to the workers’ banks, which can help bring them to Hawaii. However, Withy believes that providing them with housing is the key to keeping them there.
Withy’s plan is to offer low-interest loans to health care workers, allowing them to own houses at a lower cost than the market rate. They can then sell these houses to other essential workers in Hawaii.
Withy has made a personal commitment to not retire until local health care workers have their loans paid off, receive increased salaries, and have the opportunity to purchase homes in Hawaii.
As part of the program, individuals with Hawaii ties are defined as those who grew up or went to school in Hawaii, or have parents living on the islands.
There are significant financial penalties for health care workers who fail to fulfill their two-year commitment, with each month less than two years costing them $5,500.
These penalties are intentionally designed to discourage individuals from leaving Hawaii.
Even as a transplant from Pittsburgh, Gov. Josh Green, who is the only sitting governor in America that is also a medical doctor, has been a strong advocate for the loan repayment program to attract and retain health care workers with Hawaii roots. He began his medical career in rural Kau on Hawaii island, providing healthcare to low-income families through the National Health Service Corps.
In a statement, Green expressed his satisfaction in seeing the loan repayment program and other initiatives to address the shortage of health care providers come to fruition with generous funding.
The new program, called the “Healthcare Education Loan Repayment Program” or HELP, expands on a federally funded state program and is available to nearly 50 health care professions that commit to two years of service on a full- or half-time basis. Loan repayments range from $12,500 to $50,000 annually, depending on the profession and location of service.
The program was developed by JABSOM, the Health Care Association of Hawaii, and the state Department of Health.
HEALTH MATTERS
For more information and to apply, visit ahec.hawaii.edu and follow the link to the Hawaii Education Loan Repayment Program.
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