The University of Louisville and Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Medicaid in Kentucky recently announced an endowed scholarship to increase access to care and improve health equity in Kentucky’s rural areas. The Anthem Medicaid Rural Medicine Scholarship will support up to four students at the UofL School of Medicine Trover Campus through a $100,000 gift from Anthem Medicaid that will serve students for years to come. A photo from a recent announcement event can be accessed here. 

The 2020-2022 University of Louisville School of Medicine Trover Campus Biennial Report found that all or part of 102 Kentucky counties are considered to be “health professional shortage areas.” Moreover, health care access researchers estimate more than 102,000 Medicaid beneficiaries in Kentucky lack sufficient access to a primary care provider. Moreover, according to the Kentucky Hospital Association’s 2022 Workforce Survey Report, Kentucky hospitals reported more than 13,000 vacancies across 13 professional groups in 2021. Shortages such as this, coupled with the state’s high prevalence of multiple chronic conditions, reinforce the need to expand the number of health care professionals in the Commonwealth.

This partnership between UofL and Anthem Medicaid will address Kentucky’s shortage of health care professionals and benefit the Commonwealth long-term.

“Anthem Medicaid recognizes the importance of reducing health care inequities by investing in the future health care workforce to ensure that communities across Kentucky have access to essential health services,” said Leon Lamoreaux, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Medicaid President in Kentucky. “We are proud to work alongside the University of Louisville School of Medicine and the Trover Campus to improve lives and communities, and to ensure institutions on the front lines of health care education and training – especially in rural and underserved communities of greatest need – are equipped to continue to develop high-quality, hometown health care heroes.”

In 1998, the University of Louisville partnered with the Trover Foundation to establish the regional rural Trover Campus. For the first 15 years, the campus was one of only two regional U.S. medical school clinical campuses in towns less than 150,000 population. Fast forward to today, and the Trover Campus is ranked second among 40 rural programs by the Health Resources and Services Administration.

“The best way to get a doctor to a small town is to get a medical student from a small town and then train them in a small town,” said William J. Crump, associate dean of the UofL School of Medicine Trover Campus, summarizing the philosophy behind the program.

State Representative Wade Williams (R-KY) and State Senator Robby Mills (R-KY) joined in lauding the Anthem Medicaid Rural Medicine Scholarship.

“I’m excited by this groundbreaking partnership between Anthem Medicaid and the University of Louisville,” said Senator Mills. “Our state is in desperate need of new health care heroes, and this is but one innovative solution to help my constituents get the care they deserve.”

“Between a devastating tornado and extreme flooding, the Commonwealth has been through so much recently,” said Representative Williams. “It warms my heart to know partners like Anthem Medicaid and the University of Louisville are finding ways to not only solve the shortage of health care professionals needed before, during and after trying times, but also empowering the next generation of hometown health care heroes.”

Three students were selected for this year’s Anthem Rural Medicine Scholarship based on academic excellence and enrolled in the Rural Medicine Accelerated Track (RMAT). RMAT enables medical students to finish medical school in three years, reducing cost and time commitments for rural students who plan to open practices in small towns in Kentucky.

The 2023 recipients of the UofL-Trover Anthem Medicaid Rural Medicine Scholarship are Caitlan Jones, Bradley Watson and Emily Amyx.

“RMAT has afforded me the opportunity to return home sooner and start giving back to the community where I first fell in love with medicine,” Amyx said. “I am so grateful to Anthem Medicaid for the scholarship, their support and their commitment to RMAT.”

“I come from a family of farmers and coal miners, with some of the most humble and kind parents. It’s only fitting that I end up in rural medicine, and scholarship programs like this and RMAT are helping me get there,” Jones said. 

This announcement builds on Anthem Medicaid’s recent partnerships with several other institutions, including Eastern Kentucky University, Hazard Community & Technical College, Murray State University and Western Kentucky University. Since 2021, Anthem Medicaid has awarded more than $500,000 to higher education institutions to expand rural health care access across the Commonwealth.

Currently, Anthem Medicaid serves more than 178,285 individuals in the Commonwealth, including 42% of whom live in rural areas.