House Passes Del. Rasoul’s Budget Amendment to Bring UVA Family Nurse Practitioner Program to Wise
ROANOKE - Delegate Sam Rasoul (D-11) announced today that a budget amendment he introduced to bring the University of Virginia’s Family Nurse Practioner Program (FNP) to Wise, Virginia was included in the House 2020-2022 Budget.
The program would create new health care jobs and expand health care access in underresourced southwestern Virginia. The cost of start-up funding for the program included in the budget is $810,912.
"Southwestern Virginia, like many rural parts of our country, lacks adequate access to health care for its residents," said Rasoul. "In places like Wise, family nurse practitioners are at the forefront of health care access. I am so happy to see this program funded to bring much-needed, good-paying jobs to the region, not to mention the new pipeline of health care workers who will practice in the area as a result.”
A 2017study found that far-southwestern Virginia, which includes Wise, had one of the highest uninsured rates of any region in the Commonwealth (12.0%). The statewide uninsured rate in 2017 was 10.3%.
For more on the health care struggles facing western and southwestern Virginia, please see this story, recently aired on CBS Morning News about nurses in Wise, Virginia who are at the frontlines of caring for COVID patients and providing vaccines in the area.