Health Professionals

For over 30 years, HopeHealth has served some of the most marginalized and underserved communities across the Pee Dee region and beyond. As a federally qualified health center, the nonprofit organization provided comprehensive healthcare, support, and enabling services to nearly 60,000 patients across Florence, Williamsburg, Clarendon, and Orangeburg Counties in 2022 (UDS, 2022). HopeHealth is also the largest AIDS Service Organization (ASO) provider in the state of South Carolina, offering care to twelve counties spanning Aiken to Dillon.

Over 100 HopeHealth medical providers located across 19 clinical sites span primary care, pediatrics, women’s health, oral health, chiropractic care, behavioral health (including psychiatry and medication assisted treatment), clinical pharmacy, and specialties (i.e., endocrinology, rheumatology).

Health workforce shortages are rampant across the nation, regardless of provider type. The lack of needed physicians and advanced practice providers, nurses, and support staff negatively impacts patient care delivery and related health outcomes. These gaps in care are felt even more drastically in rural areas as outsourcing, outward migration, and retiring providers outweigh the number of incoming health workforce recruited and retained. Clinical residency programs are an effective method to recruit and retain the health workforce, particularly with local students and residents.

At the same time, there is a need to increase the number of clinical and residency rotations at healthcare partners, particularly within a community-based, health center model. HopeHealth is looking to support and strengthen the regional health workforce pipeline by creating a dedicated position to steer clinical training and education efforts at the organization. By filling this critical role, HopeHealth may better serve the region and state with dedicated clinical and residency rotation slots, furthering the number of health workforce trained and retained in the area, and ensuring new graduates and providers understand the nuances of care delivery to vulnerable and underserved populations.