AARP Applauds HHS Investments in Primary Care

WASHINGTON—AARP Senior Vice President Susan Reinhard issued the following statement on this week’s announcement that the Department of Health and Human Services will invest $250 million to address the national shortage of health care workers:

“This $250 million investment reflects an increasing focus on workforce issues as part of health care reform implementation.

“Investments in nursing education, nurse-led primary care, and state-level workforce development will increase consumer access to health care providers and strengthen the primary care workforce.

“Advanced practice nurses can provide the primary and preventive care, chronic care management and care coordination necessary to reduce waste and bring down costs while increasing access and quality.”

Among other investments, the funding will support a number of nursing-related strategies, including encouraging more nursing students to pursue full-time careers, establishing new clinics led by nurse practitioners and funding state efforts to address health care workforce shortages.

This investment intersects with the Center to Champion Nursing in America’s strategies to expand nursing education capacity and to highlight the role of advanced practice registered nurses in primary care. The workforce development grants also will benefit states’ efforts to build a 21st century nursing workforce. The Center is an initiative of AARP, the AARP Foundation and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

For more information on nursing issues and how they impact consumer health care, visit the Center to Champion Nursing in America at www.championnursing.org.