#StrengthentheNHSC
Strengthen the National Health Service Corps!
What Is the National Health Service Corps?
Since its inception in 1972, the National Health Service Corps (NHSC) has worked to build healthy communities by placing healthcare providers in medically underserved areas of every state and territory of the United States. The NHSC emerged to address access gaps in the United States’ healthcare system that leave many medically stranded, unable to access the care they need. Collectively, more than 74 million people reside in primary care health professional shortage areas (HPSAs). The NHSC aims to help these very populations by offering scholarships and loan repayments for providers who agree to serve in HPSA areas, including urban, rural, frontier, and low-income communities. Today, nearly 19 million people rely on more than 18,000 NHSC clinicians for a range of clinical services, especially in primary care.
What Can I Do?
The Association of Clinicians for the Underserved leads the effort to preserve and expand funding for this vital program. We need your help: Become an ACU Advocate today to help #SavetheNHSC! Also, don’t forget to share our resources and calls to action using the hashtag #SavetheNHSC on your social media, and tag us on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Bluesky.
Latest Updates
View our latest calls to action, policy analyses, and recaps of recent developments impacting our shared work to #SavetheNHSC.
Policy & Advocacy Update: What the FY2027 HHS Budget Proposal Means for Our Community
In early April, the Trump Administration released its Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 HHS budget proposal. This document outlines the Administration’s policy and spending priorities, but it does not bind Congress. [...]
Policy & Advocacy Update: Advancing FY2027 Funding Advocacy for the NHSC and Beyond
Where Things Stand: The Congressional Landscape Despite a partial government shutdown—the Department of Homeland Security has been shuttered for over 40 days with TSA workers only recently seeing payment, airport [...]
Share Your NHSC Impact Story With Us!
Help us emphasize to Congress the impact of the NHSC on the lives of individuals and families living in medically underserved communities. Please share with us how important the NHSC is to your and/or your health center and the implications of funding cuts from a full-year CR by emailing us.
Indispensable Impact: What the National Health Service Corps Means to a Maine Health Center
St. Croix Regional Family Health Center is a small, community-based Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) serving the rural towns of Princeton and Calais in Washington County, Maine. Our patients often travel 20 to [...]
Committed to Care: A Nurse Practitioner’s Health Center Journey Made Possible with Help from the NHSC
Jean Baumgardner, APRN, cares for patients at Norton Sound Health Corporation in Alaska, an FQHC serving the Inupiat, Siberian Yup’ik and Yup’ik people of the Bering Strait region. I have [...]
Key Resources
Read our introductory fact sheet on the National Health Service Corps and review our policy ask below, and stay tuned for a #SavetheNHSC social media toolkit to help spread the word!
Key Facts
Making Care Accessible for Under-Resourced Populations
The NHSC supports more than 20,000 primary care medical, dental, and behavioral health providers through scholarships and loan repayment programs. Representing myriad cross-section of disciplines and services, NHSC providers serve at more than 9,000 community healthcare sites providing vital care to more than 21 million patients regardless of their ability to pay.
Field Strength by Profession
- Dentists
- RDHs
- CNMs
- Health Service Psychologists
- LCSWs
- Licensed Professional Counselors
- Marriage and Family Therapists
- Nurse Practictioners
- Pharmacists
- Physicians
- Physician Assistants
- Registered Nurses
- Substance Use Disorder Counselors
- Other
- Dentists
- RDHs
- CNMs
- Health Service Psychologists
- LCSWs
- Licensed Professional Counselors
- Marriage and Family Therapists
- Nurse Practictioners
- Pharmacists
- Physicians
- Physician Assistants
- Registered Nurses
- Substance Use Disorder Counselors
- Other
NHSC Reflections from ACU’s Community
Further Resources
- National Health Service Corps Official Website
- NHSC Timeline: 1972-Present
- Current Loan Repayment Program Opportunities: from the NHSC
- Using the National Health Service Corps (NHSC) to Recruit Clinicians: Archived Webinar
- Using the National Health Service Corps to Recruit and Retain Clinicians: Blog Post
- NHSC: Empowering Clinicians for Resiliency and Transformative Care Initiative
- “The Effect of National Health Service Corps Clinician Staffing on Medical and Behavioral Health Care Costs in Community Health Centers”
