University Times

Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh has received a five-year, $1.9 million grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to expand the hospital’s pediatric residency program by developing a primary care training pathway.

The funding will allow Children’s to provide focused training for residents who want to enter primary care practice in underserved urban and rural communities. Children’s new primary care program — Pediatric Advocacy, Leadership, Service (PALS) — will add two residents each year for the next five years, each of whom will train over three years.

Children’s is one of 82 accredited primary care residency programs in the country to receive the HHS funding under the Affordable Care Act. The 82 programs will receive $167.3 million in funding to increase the number of residents trained in general pediatrics, general internal medicine and family medicine. By 2015, it is anticipated the program will support the training of an additional 889 new primary care residents beyond the number being trained now.

“Chronic diseases, most of which are preventable, are one of the main reasons health care costs have soared over the past several decades,” said HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. “Investing in our primary care workforce will strengthen the role that wellness and prevention play in our health care system. With these grants, Americans from all backgrounds will have new opportunities to enter the health care workforce.”

The PALS program is accepting applications for positions starting in July.

For more information, visit www.chp.edu/pals.