The Louisiana Primary Care Association has been awarded $2.2 million to bolster training, education, and programming to address healthcare professional shortages in Louisiana’s Delta Region.
This four-year grant, offered by the Delta Region Rural Health Workforce Training Program, will support professionals and students working in medical coding and billing, claims processing, information management, and clinical documentation. The funding will also be used to support recruitment, formal training, certification, and placement of students in community health centers in a time of critical staffing shortages.
The Louisiana Primary Care Association (LPCA) represents 39 federally funded, private, nonprofit, and public community health centers across Louisiana that serve over 465,000 patients annually. LPCA promotes community-based health services through advocacy, education, and collaboration with community partners.
Currently, 16 of LPCA’s member community health centers are operating over 70 sites in the rural parishes of Louisiana’s Delta Region covered under the Workforce Training Program[1]. These health centers provide comprehensive primary and preventative healthcare services to low-income and underserved communities. These services can include health screenings, dental services, behavioral health and substance use services, patient care coordination, and more.
Through innovative partnerships with the Louisiana Technical Community College System, Central Louisiana Ahead Health Education Center, and the Louisiana Rural Health Association, LPCA will leverage this funding to support a variety of credentialing programs, including Certified Professional Coder, Certified Coding Associate, and Healthcare Access. The certifications will prepare students to enter careers with livable wages and serve to address the critical labor market shortage affecting thousands who rely on local community health centers.
“This grant funding will allow us to engage students in community health and expand on the incredible work of health centers in the Delta Region,” said LPCA Executive Director Gerrelda Davis. “These centers are serving over 200,000 patients every year and, with this grant, they stand to deliver the highest quality of care to even more communities in need.”
For more information on the Delta Region Rural Health Workforce Training Program grant, contact LPCA’s Training & Development Manager, Yvette W. Merritt, MPH, at ymerritt@lpca.net or call (225) 927-7662, ext. 204.