Rural residency planning and development program - applicant name: the wright center for graduate medical education (twcgme) project director (PD): brian ebersole, VP academic affairs, assoc

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Bureau of Health Professionals awarded The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education (TWCGME) a $750,000 project grant under the Rural Health Research Centers program (CFDA 93.155) on August 1, 2025, to establish a new rural family medicine residency program. The award supports the development of a non-ACGME-accredited rural residency training program (Non-RTP) in Mercer County, Pennsylvania, designed to train 12 family medicine residents over a four-year cycle (4-4-4 format). The program targets accreditation by July 2028 and is expected to matriculate residents beginning July 1, 2029. As a Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education Program, the residency will provide quality, Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC)-based medical training while maintaining sustainable cost structures appropriate for rural settings.

TWCGME is partnering with Primary Health Network (PHN), the largest FQHC in Pennsylvania, and Allegheny Health Network's Grove City Hospital to deliver this training initiative in a Health Professional Shortage Area and Medically Underserved Area designated rural county. The partnership leverages TWCGME's established graduate medical education infrastructure—evidenced by multiple prior HRSA awards supporting residency programs in internal medicine, geriatrics, family medicine, psychiatry, and other specialties—to establish sustainable physician training in a region characterized by significant health disparities including obesity, physical inactivity, mental health conditions, and substance use disorders. The rural residency program directly addresses physician workforce shortages in underserved communities through community-based training delivery.

DIO, chief operations officer education project director contact info: 501 s. Washington avenue, scranton, PA 18505 email/phone/FAX of PD