North Dakota Health and Human Services (HHS) is incentivizing new health care graduates and established health professionals to choose North Dakota as their career location through the department’s latest health care recruitment initiative, Love You to Stay.
Love You to Stay aims to address health care needs in underserved and rural areas by providing avenues of support with partnering agencies that connect health care professionals to promising career opportunities in North Dakota.
The campaign also leads health care professionals who work with underserved communities and populations to North Dakota Health Service Corps student loan repayment programs. Individuals can find workforce recruitment and retention resources online at loveyoutostay.nd.gov. Partnering state agencies can connect health professionals to promising career opportunities. In addition, health professionals serving rural areas and underserved populations can participate in North Dakota Health Service Corps student loan repayment programs.
Individuals can find workforce recruitment and retention resources online at loveyoutostay.nd.gov.
“North Dakota is a great place to live and work; a place where health professionals are truly valued,” said North Dakota State Health Officer Dr. Nizar Wehbi. “Recruiting and retaining a trained, qualified health care workforce and supporting access to care statewide, including in rural areas, will help North Dakota become the healthiest state in the nation.”
North Dakota has three statewide support-for-service programs that offer financial support to selected individuals serving in areas of need. Wehbi encouraged health care professionals to explore support for service opportunities.
The HHS Primary Care Office is now accepting applications for the 2024 North Dakota Health Services Corps, the Dental Loan Repayment Program, and the North Dakota Healthcare Professional Student Loan Repayment Program. Each year, these programs help 50-75 North Dakota health professionals by providing about $2.2 million in state and federal funding for student loan repayment.
Professions eligible for the support-for-service programs include physicians, registered nurses, pharmacists, clinical psychologists, dentists and dental hygienists, and advanced practice providers such as physician assistants, nurse practitioners and others. Behavioral health professions that also qualify include licensed addiction counselors, licensed professional counselors, licensed social workers, registered nurses and behavioral analysts.
Individuals should refer to each loan repayment program for eligibility. Details and application links are online on the North Dakota Health Services Corp webpage.
New graduates and established health care professionals can learn more about workforce opportunities and resources by visiting the HHS Primary Care Office website or contacting them at (701) 805-1071 or doh-pco@nd.gov.