(Des Moines) Like every state in the nation, Iowa is grappling with a critical shortage of doctors and healthcare staff, rising healthcare costs, and challenges in ensuring access to quality services in rural and underserved areas.
Iowa House District #18 Representative Tom Moore said this week the Health and Human Services Committee moved forward multiple bills to help address the shortage in the long term. Two of the proposed bills focus on encouraging Iowa medical students to remain in the state to practice after completing their training.
Audio PlayerThe HHS Committee also advanced House File 301 last week, a bill aimed at addressing Iowa’s rural healthcare challenges. HF 301 codifies language requiring medical residencies at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics to prioritize applicants with Iowa connections. Additionally, the bill mandates that primary care residencies—such as those in family medicine, psych, obstetrics, and internal medicine—include rural rotation opportunities.
House File 146 would require the University of Iowa College of Medicine and Des Moines University’s College of Osteopathic Medicine to conduct a study on turning their four-year medical schools into three-year programs. This bill passed HHS committee.
Audio PlayerGovernor Reynolds has proposed a bill to train more doctors here in Iowa and expand rural access to care. Moore said the committee will consider these ideas as well as they work to get all Iowans the quality, affordable care they need.
