The three-year program will draw four residents each year from across the nation. When the program is in full swing, it will host 12 residents total. The health center is currently seeking a program director and funding. The program will cost an estimated $160,000 per resident, according to the report.
Local healthcare leaders believe the new program will help address the physician shortage in the surrounding counties. El Paso County needs 120 more primary care physicians to hit the target physician-to-patient ratio of one to 1,900, according to a Colorado Health Institute study cited in the report. Reaching the target would more than double the physicians in El Paso County.
Colorado Springs only has one residency program for pathology. It graduates two physicians each year. With about 440,000 residents, Colorado Springs is the largest city in the United States without a family medicine residency, according to the report.
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