Governor Josh Green, M.D., and the Hawai‘i/Pacific Basin Area Health Education Center (AHEC) unveiled a loan repayment program to address the growing shortages of physicians and other healthcare professionals across Hawaiʻi.
Developed by the John A. Burns School of Medicine, (JABSOM), the Healthcare Association of Hawai‘i, the State Department of Health and funded by the Hawaiʻi State Legislature, the Healthcare Education Loan Repayment Program (HELP) provides $30 million in educational loan debt repayment to health professionals licensed or otherwise certified to practice in and provide care to patients in Hawai‘i.
In exchange for two years of full-time or half-time service in Hawaiʻi, the following types of healthcare professionals will qualify for loan repayments starting at $12,500 and capped at $50,000. The eligible amount varies depending on the profession, location of practice, and educational indebtedness. All must provide care to, or work for organizations that provide care to, at least 30% of patients who are publicly insured.
Eligible professions include:
- Audiologist
- Behavior analyst
- Certified physician assistant
- Certified substance abuse counselor
- Chiropractor
- Clinical laboratory director
- Clinical laboratory specialist
- Community service dental hygienist
- Community service dentist
- Cytotechnologist
- Dental hygienist
- Dentist
- Emergency Medical Technician (EMT)
- Industrial psychologist
- Licensed bachelor social worker
- Licensed clinical social worker
- Licensed marriage and family therapist
- Licensed practical nurse
- Licensed social worker
- Medical assistant
- Medical laboratory technician
- Medical technologist
- Mental health counselor
- Midwife
- Naturopathic physician
- Nurse aide
- Nurse anesthetist
- Nursing home administrator
- Occupational therapist
- Occupational therapy assistant
- Optometrist
- Osteopathic physician and surgeon
- Paramedic
- Pharmacist
- Physical therapist
- Physical therapist assistant
- Physician
- Physician assistant
- Podiatrist
- Psychologist
- Radiology technician
- Registered Dietician
- Registered nurse
- Respiratory therapist
- Speech pathologist
- Surgical assistant
- Surgical technician
- Surgical technologist
HELP prioritizes specialists in Primary Care and Behavioral Health along with those practicing in rural areas (defined by the state as all neighbor islands and Waimānalo, Waiʻanae, Wahiawā, Hauʻula, Lāʻie, Kahuku, Haleʻiwa and Waialua).
The state expects HELP to improve recruitment and retention of providers serving vulnerable populations, as well as those in medically underserved areas of Hawaiʻi, while lessening the burden of large educational debt. The statewide shortage includes practitioners across the medical, dental, and behavioral and mental health fields, with demand for primary care physicians, behavioral health providers, and particularly high demand for specialty physicians practicing in rural areas. While Hawaiʻi’s shortfall of approximately 4,000 healthcare professionals affects residents across the islands, residents of rural areas and those with public insurance experience the deficit in care most acutely.
The Hawaiʻi/Pacific Basin Area Health Education Center (AHEC) administers the program, and applications are accessible on its website. Applications are accepted twice a year in October and April, and AHEC will disburse awards in January and July, respectively.
For more information and to apply for HELP, please visit the AHEC website or call (808) 692-1060.
AP Photo