© 2025 Connecticut Public

FCC Public Inspection Files:
WEDH · WEDN · WEDW · WEDY
WEDW-FM · WNPR · WPKT · WRLI-FM
Public Files Contact · ATSC 3.0 FAQ
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

The federal government pledges $100 million to address health care worker shortages

A doctor stands at a walk-up coronavirus testing site at West County Health Center in San Pablo, Calif. in April 2020. Pandemic burnout has effected thousands of health care workers.
Jessica Christian
/
Hearst Newspapers via Getty Images
A doctor stands at a walk-up coronavirus testing site at West County Health Center in San Pablo, Calif. in April 2020. Pandemic burnout has effected thousands of health care workers.

As health care workers face increased pandemic burnout, some states — particularly in underserved areas — have had challenges retaining existing staff and recruiting new clinicians.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is now committing $100 million through the American Rescue Plan to help solve the problem.

"Our health care workers have worked tirelessly to save lives throughout this pandemic and now it's our turn to invest in them," Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement.

"This investment is critical to ensuring state public health officials can continue supporting specific needs across their communities," he said.

The funds, which are now open for applications until April 8, 2022, are eligible "for state-run programs that support, recruit, and retain primary care clinicians who live and work in underserved communities," HHS says. The department hopes that being able to retain health care workers in underserved areas will help improve health equity.

In rural areas in particular, the struggle to hire and retain doctors existed long before the pandemic, but the problem has worsened in the past few years with COVID-19. The Bureau of Labor Statistics recently stated that employment in health care is down 524,000 workers since February 2020.

While medical schools have reported that they're graduating more primary care physicians than ever before, the number of those doctors who actually go into the primary care field after residency drops significantly, underscoring the need to help with recruitment efforts.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, surveys have shown a huge increase in stress, burnout, anxiety and depression among health care workers, particularly in women and people of color. Some medical workers have expressed that the exhaustion among staff is affecting patient care, as well.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Deepa Shivaram
Deepa Shivaram is a multi-platform political reporter on NPR's Washington Desk.

Fund the Facts

You just read trusted, local journalism that’s free for everyone, thanks to donors like you.

If that matters to you, now is the time to give. Join the 50,000+ members powering honest reporting and a more connected — and civil! — Connecticut.

SOMOS CONNECTICUT is an initiative from Connecticut Public, the state’s local NPR and PBS station, to elevate Latino stories and expand programming that uplifts and informs our Latino communities. Visit CTPublic.org/latino for more stories and resources. For updates, sign up for the SOMOS CONNECTICUT newsletter at ctpublic.org/newsletters.

SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

Fund the Facts

You just read trusted, local journalism that’s free for everyone, thanks to donors like you.

If that matters to you, now is the time to give. Join the 50,000+ members powering honest reporting and a more connected — and civil! — Connecticut.

Related Content