During his 2009 campaign for governor, Bob McDonnell promised to make rural areas more attractive places to practice medicine.
"The McDonnell administration will expand loan forgiveness and scholarship programs for health care professionals with an emphasis on placing health care professionals in rural areas," the campaign said.
In our first evaluation of the promise, we said the effort was "Stalled." The administration had made progress on some aspects of rural health care, but had not pushed the General Assembly to re-start a loan forgiveness program.
Each year, the state receives $400,000 from the federal government for the Virginia State Loan Repayment Program, but local clinics, not the state government, pay the required 50 percent match. The award number varies each year -- in 2011, there were five awards; in 2012, there was one; and in 2013, there were five.
The state does have a program for other health professionals that require a commitment to practice in underserved areas, the Virginia Nurse Practitioner and Nurse Midwife Program. It was created in 2005. In 2009, it awarded five scholarships; in 2010, it awarded five; in 2011, it awarded three; in 2012, it awarded five; and in 2013, it awarded two.
The General Assembly Rural Caucus created the Health Workforce Development Authority in 2010 to study how to improve health care in underserved areas, but the administration had no recommendations last time we wrote about the promise.
When we asked the governor's office this week if there were an update, spokeswoman Taylor Keeney said nothing had changed. McDonnell has given no indication that the budget he will introduce Monday will expand these programs, but, even if it did, he will not be able to usher through their expansion as his term ends before the budget will be passed.
McDonnell's clock has run out on this one, so he receives a Promise Broken.