Project Grant P1355799

The Department of Health and Human Services Health Resources and Services Administration Bureau of Health Professionals awarded Comanche County Hospital Authority $750,000 on August 1, 2026, to establish a new rural psychiatry residency program under the Rural Residency Planning and Development Program.

The recipient will develop a four-year psychiatry residency program serving Tillman County, Oklahoma (anchor site) and adjacent portions of Comanche, Jackson, Kiowa, and Cotton counties. The program is projected to train 12 residents at full complement (3 residents per class). During the first nine months of the award period, Comanche County Hospital Authority will determine its ACGME sponsorship structure—either seeking institutional accreditation independently or forming or joining a GME consortium with an academic partner such as Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences or the Osteopathic Medical Education Consortium of Oklahoma. The recipient will submit an ACGME application by the end of year 2, with program accreditation and establishment targeted by July 31, 2029. The first resident class is expected to matriculate in the academic year beginning in 2030.

Comanche County Hospital Authority, operating as Comanche County Memorial Hospital, is a public hospital authority based in Lawton, Oklahoma, currently administering two residency programs for Oklahoma State University as the sponsoring institution. Lawton Community Health Center, an FQHC operated by the authority, will serve as the primary facility supporting the new program.

Performance extends through July 31, 2029. The recipient identified Medicare GME cap increase for a new rural residency program and Medicare reasonable-cost payments for critical access hospitals as sustainability options.