More Doctors Coming to Delta Region

“Help is On the Way…”

Pete Johnson, Federal Co-chairman Delta Regional Authority

Better and greater access to quality healthcare just received a “shot in the arm”, according to Pete Johnson, Federal co-chairman of the Delta Regional Authority.

More physicians will be coming to its Region with the start up of the Delta
Regional Authority’s Physician Visa Waiver Program. “Help is on the way and more people will have better access to affordable healthcare because of this new program. As a result we will have better healthcare outcomes which, in turn, mean healthier people,” Chairman Johnson said.

Currently, foreign medical graduates (physicians) trained in the U.S. are
required to return to their native land after completion of their training.
However, through the DRA program, the Federal Co-chairman can recommend a “waiver” of that U.S. State Department requirement -- provided the physician agrees to serve in a medically-underserved area of the DRA region for three years. Additionally, these doctors must provide primary care service for 40 hours per week and must treat all categories of patients, including Medicare, Medicaid and indigent patients.

This program will assist hospitals and community health centers in private practices in the Delta’s 240 counties and parishes with recruiting
physicians to work in its urban and rural underserved communities. Further, there is no “cap” on the number of recommendations DRA can make each year.

According to Chairman Johnson, the program’s outcomes will include:

• Reductions in health care costs and the physical and mental anguish of
  diseases; and
• It will also improve the prevention efforts of unhealthy lifestyles in
  children and adults as well.

“The DRA program is designed to help give special attention to the processes required in bringing doctors to the healthcare facilities that many medically underserved communities depend upon for quality primary care,” Johnson said.

From 1993 to 2002, the United States Department of Agriculture was one of the leading government agencies that processed the waivers, which resulted in some 3,098 placements in the country. DRA is the first government agency to step in and fill the void left by USDA, and Johnson is optimistic that the Authority’s involvement will help expedite the process and increase the chances of applications being approved.

DRAs waiver program is attractive in other ways. It brings economic benefits to the region, for example. With every J-1 Visa physician approved for work comes the additional openings for support staff jobs such as nurses and lab technicians. In addition, physicians who will be granted waivers to practice medicine through the program will do so in communities where their American counterparts chose not to serve.

“The DRA waiver program will help states to maximize the number of primary care physicians in areas and by needs in the region with the goal of providing better and more accessible health care services to the citizens of the Delta,” Johnson said.

A federal-state partnership, Congress established the DRA in December of
2000 to channel resources, aid and guidance for economic development to the Mississippi Delta region. The Authority’s region includes 240 counties in the following eight states: Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Mississippi, Missouri, Kentucky, Louisiana and Tennessee. For more information about DRA, go to www.dra.gov.