A budget amendment introduced by Roanoke Del. Sam Rasoul to bring the University of Virginia’s Family Nurse Practioner Program to Wise was included in the amended House 2020-2022 budget.
The program would create new healthcare jobs and expand healthcare access in Southwest Virginia.
The cost of start-up funding for the program included in the budget is $810,912.
“Southwestern Virginia, like many rural parts of our country, lacks adequate access to health care for its residents,” said Rasoul, a candidate for the Democratic Party lieutenant governor nomination. “In places like Wise, family nurse practitioners are at the forefront of health care access. I am so happy to see this program funded to bring much-needed, good-paying jobs to the region, and to create a new pipeline of health care workers who will practice in the area as a result.”
A 2017 study found that far Southwest Virginia, which includes Wise, had one of the highest uninsured rates of any region in the Commonwealth (12.0 percent). The statewide uninsured rate in 2017 was 10.3 percent.
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Chris Graham
