Twenty organizations, including the American Healthcare Association and Academic Pediatric Association, are urging Congress to increase funding for a program that's trained half of all U.S. pediatric residents.
The Children's Hospitals Graduate Medical Education program was created by Congress in 1999 to support the training of pediatric healthcare workers and expands access to care for children. But per-trainee funding of the program lags that of other federal programs supporting physician training, according to a letter from American Hospital Association and other supporters.
"This funding gap continues to grow and is not sustainable," the March 31 letter to Congress reads. "Additionally, workforce shortages must be addressed, most acutely among pediatric specialties such as child and adolescent psychiatry, developmental pediatrics, and pediatric genetics and genomics. CHGME is charged with meeting this need and requires increased funding to do so."
The organizations are asking for Congress to boost funding for the program to $485 million in fiscal year 2022. The Children's Hospital Association urged Congress to continue to increase this funding by about $135 million annually to close the cost gap.
Access the full letter here.