The Virginia Office of Health Equity serves as the Primary Care Office (PCO). The goal of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Primary Care Office Cooperative Agreement Program is to assure the availability of quality health care to low income, uninsured, isolated, vulnerable and special needs populations and to meet these populations’ unique health care needs. Virginia's PCO accomplishes this through the following:
- Fostering collaboration across and within various levels of government, communities, and non-profit organizations
- Identifying communities with the greatest unmet health care needs, disparities, and health workforce shortages; identifying the key barriers to access to health care for these communities; and working toward solutions
- Supporting the Virginia Community Healthcare Association [Virginia's Primary Care Association (PCA)] by providing information to assist in their development of a plan to manage the growth of health centers in Virginia
- Supporting and enhancing the primary care workforce in the state through shortage designations, recruitment and retention activities, and administration of scholarship and loan repayment programs
2021 Primary Care Needs Assessment
The purpose of the PCO Needs Assessment is to identify communities with the greatest unmet health care needs, disparities, and health workforce shortages within the state of Virginia and to identify the key barriers to accessing primary health care.
To read the full report click here.
Health Workforce Incentive Programs:
The Commonwealth of Virginia offers several incentive programs to attract primary health professionals to Virginia's underserved areas. These programs not only assist with paying down outstanding medical education debt but also afford individuals an opportunity to become part of a community and provide care to deserving populations. Learn More
Employment /Recruitment resources: 3RNET
HPSA information can be found at the following sites: