New bill aims to attract OB-GYNs to rural Kansas
the Kansas Senate passed a new bill that will help increase the amount of doctors in rural areas.
TOPEKA, Kan. (KSNT) – Kansas lawmakers passed a new bill to provide women in rural areas access to OB-GYNs.
The bill lets students apply for a state loan program. The state will help pay for medical school costs and provide a stipend if the student agrees to work in a selected area.
Lawmakers said this is an important step to increase access to healthcare for the entire state. Sen. Kevin Braun (R – Kansas City) hopes starting doctors in local communities will help retention rates.
“When you look at physicians that are on programs like this, whether they’re from foreign countries, whether they’re from India, Taiwan or just from somewhere else in the United States, what you find is once they’re there and they get on this program, they stay,” Braun said.
“So they become a part of the community, a fabric of the community.”
Sen. Kevin Braun
Primary care doctors and psychiatrists are also part of the state’s medical student loan program.
In addition, the bill stipulates that OB-GYNs in the program cannot perform an abortion unless it is a medical emergency or if the pregnancy is a result of rape or incest.
The bill now heads to the House, and if passed, to the governor.