Federal Grant Award Summary

Barrio Comprehensive Family Health Care Center, Inc., doing business as Communicare Health Centers, received a $107,116 Project Grant award from the Department of Health and Human Services Bureau of Health Professionals under the Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education (THCGME) Payment Program (CFDA 93.530). The award, effective March 1, 2026 through June 30, 2029, supports the expansion of the organization's community-based family medicine residency program operated in partnership with the University of the Incarnate World School of Osteopathic Medicine through the Texas Institute of Graduate Medical Education and Research (TIGMER). As an expansion awardee, Communicare will utilize funding to increase residency capacity by six full-time equivalent (FTE) resident positions across all postgraduate years of training, beginning with two resident FTE positions in the first funding year. This expansion will grow the program from eight residents annually to ten residents per year by year three of the grant program.

The THCGME funding enables Communicare to enhance its mission of training primary care physicians in community-based ambulatory care settings to serve rural and underserved populations. Through this expansion, residents will gain hands-on clinical experience under board-certified faculty at Communicare's West Campus facility, developing the knowledge, skills, and clinical inquiry capabilities necessary to deliver patient-centered, community-oriented care to medically underserved communities. The program directly addresses the federal objective to expand primary care residency training in community-based settings while building a healthcare workforce prepared to improve access to medical treatment in rural and underserved areas.