At least 20 hospitals and health systems have shared plans this year to launch new physician residency programs, though several are reducing or closing programs due to a range of factors.
Hosting residency programs is a significant expense for teaching hospitals. AAMC data shows that hospitals spent around $23 billion to run these programs in 2021. Of that, Medicare covered just over $5 billion. In at least one case where program reductions were made this year, rising costs and lack of federal funding were mentioned as contributing factors.
Below are four program cuts Becker's has reported on in 2024, starting with the most recent.
Editor's note: This is not an exhaustive list.
- In November, Pittsburgh-based UPMC confirmed plans to phase out the internal medicine residency program at McKeesport (Pa.) Hospital, citing a declining population in the city. The program is expected to be discontinued in July 2027, once all current residents complete their programs.
- Starting in June, Renton, Wash.-based Providence will reduce the number of new medical school graduates it recruits annually to its Family Medicine Residency Spokane (Wash.) program from 10 to four. The system is also ending a sports medicine fellowship in Spokane, which had one position, and is trimming the size of a translational program for residents entering specialties to eight slots. The program cuts were primarily driven by rising costs and a reduction in graduate medical education funding. Providence anticipates the reductions will save up to $3 million annually.
- In January, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education withdrew its accreditation of the surgical residency program at Upland, Pa.-based Crozer Health's flagship hospital, Crizer-Chester Medical Center. In June, the health system lost its bid to maintain the program. An anonymous complaint that the hospital did not have sufficient surgical volumes to meet resident training needs reportedly spurred the ACGME's investigation. Crozer filed an appeal to prevent the closure of the program, which was unsuccessful.
- Jefferson Einstein Hospital in Philadelphia shared plans at the start of the year to phase out its pediatric residency program. The program will shutter after currently enrolled residents complete the three-year program. Leaders said the decision was made due to "changing medical needs" in the community.