Welcome

The Southern Rural Access Program is designed to help improve access to basic healthcare in eight of the most rural, medically underserved states in the country. The program supports work to increase the supply of primary care providers in underserved areas, strengthen the health care infrastructure and build capacity at the state and community level to address healthcare problems. To achieve these goals the program is focusing on rural health leadership development; recruitment and retention of primary healthcare providers; rural health network development; and revolving loan fund development.

The Southern Rural Access Program is funded by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and administered by the Penn State College of Medicine. The Foundation has awarded $32.8 million to date for grant making, technical assistance, administration and program evaluation for this effort to improve access to care in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, East Texas and West Virginia. The Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation provides additional matching support for the West Virginia project and other local and regional philanthropies provide varying levels of support to program components in each of the eight states.