The state’s new Hawaii Healthcare Education Loan Repayment Program has selected the first 492 medical and health care professionals to receive up to $50,000 in loan repayments per year in return for two years of full-time work in the state.
What You Need To Know
HELP was developed by the governor’s office, the University of Hawaii’s John A. Burns School of Medicine, the Healthcare Association of Hawaii, the state Department of Health and others as a way to address the shortage of health care professionals, particularly in rural areas, in the state
The program is funded by a $30 million allocation from the 2023 state Legislature
HELP replaces the prior Hawaii State Loan Repayment Program, which was federally funded. According to Gov. Josh Green’s office, HELP will assist more health care professionals in its first year that the earlier program reached in the past 10 years
The legislative appropriation is bolstered by an additional $5 million over two years provided by local phonotypists Marc and Lynne Benioff, whose donation will to used to help retain health professionals on Hawaii Island
