Contact: Caroline Cornish | caroline.cornish@mainehealth.org
Portland, Maine – The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) has awarded MaineHealth a three-year, $667,330 grant to establish new rural obstetric training intensives through the Maine Rural Graduate Medical Education (MERGE) Collaborative.
MaineHealth, Northern Light Health, Central Maine Medical Center and the Maine-Dartmouth Family Medicine Residency co-created the MERGE Collaborative to increase high-quality training opportunities for graduate medical students in rural communities. Funding from the HRSA grant will allow MERGE to develop obstetrics education programs focused on rural community needs.
“This grant will help address the need for more obstetrics-trained providers in our rural areas,” said Dr. Kalli Varaklis, Designated Institutional Official at MaineHealth and the principal investigator for the HRSA grant. “It creates an opportunity for students in rural residency rotations to learn important skills to support pregnant patients and their families.”
Physicians from six hospital programs in Maine and Eastern New Hampshire including MaineHealth Stephens Hospital, MaineHealth Franklin Hospital, Northern Light Mayo Hospital, Mount Desert Island Hospital, Maine-Dartmouth Family Medicine Residency and MaineHealth Memorial Hospital will develop the new curriculum. Dr. Jeannette Andrews, an OB/GYN at MaineHealth Stephens Hospital, and Dr. Kathryn Hoffmann, a Family Medicine physician at Maine-Dartmouth Family Medicine Residency, will lead the effort.
“Family medicine physicians train to provide comprehensive healthcare across settings and over the lifespan, so they are well-positioned to help address the gap in obstetrical care within rural communities,” Dr. Hoffmann said. “Building strong partnerships between family medicine and OB/GYN physicians can increase access to specialty care in rural communities by allowing OB/GYN physicians to focus on higher risk patients and surgical procedures.”
The physician leaders also will use focus groups to learn what skills patients feel residents need to learn most. Patient focus groups will begin in early 2025 with the training intensives expected to take their first students by the end of the year.
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About MaineHealth
MaineHealth is a not-for-profit, integrated health system whose vision is, “Working together so our communities are the healthiest in America,” and is committed to a mission of providing high-quality affordable care, educating tomorrow's caregivers and researching better ways to provide care. MaineHealth includes a Level 1 trauma medical center, eight additional licensed hospitals, comprehensive pediatric care services, an extensive behavioral health care network, diagnostic services as well as home health, hospice and senior care services. With more than 2,000 employed providers and approximately 23,000 care team members, MaineHealth provides preventive care, diagnosis and treatment to 1.1 million residents in Maine and New Hampshire. MaineHealth hospitals include MaineHealth Behavioral Health at Spring Harbor in Westbrook, MaineHealth Franklin Hospital in Farmington, MaineHealth Lincoln Hospital in Damariscotta, MaineHealth Maine Medical Center in Portland, Biddeford and Sanford, MaineHealth Memorial Hospital in North Conway, N.H., MaineHealth Mid Coast Hospital in Brunswick, MaineHealth Pen Bay Hospital in Rockport, MaineHealth Stephens Hospital in Norway and MaineHealth Waldo Hospital in Belfast. MaineHealth also includes the MaineHealth Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital in Portland, MaineHealth Care at Home in Saco, the MaineHealth Institute for Research in Scarborough, the MaineHealth Medical Group and MaineHealth NorDx in Scarborough. MaineHealth affiliates include MaineGeneral Health in Augusta and Waterville and St. Mary's Heal System in Lewiston. It is also a significant stakeholder in the MaineHealth Accountable Care Organization in Portland and a joint venture partner in the New England Rehabilitation Hospital in Portland.