Wisconsin Primary Care Office: Sites and Communities
National Health Service Corps (NHSC) approved site status: Sites that are located in a designated Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) and meet other eligibility requirements (provide services on a discounted fee schedule; accept Medicaid, Medicare, BadgerCare+ patients) can apply to become an approved site and use their approved status as a recruitment tool to gain new clinicians and as a retention strategy to keep current employees.
Sites must be approved before individual clinicians can apply for loan repayment. Instructions on the information that must be provided on the site application form and how to fill out the application can be found in the NHSC Site Reference Guide. New site applications are accepted once a year, likely to be late summer through early fall. For exact application dates, please check the NHSC website.
A key requirement of NHSC sites is that they provide financial access: Sites must accept patients with Medicaid and Medicare coverage as well as have a sliding fee schedule. Please refer to the information on creating and maintaining a discounted fee schedule.
Questions about the NHSC site application and procedures can be directed to: DHSPrimaryCareOffice@dhs.wisconsin.gov
Sites must be located in a HPSA to be eligible for the program. Check if the street address of your site is in a HPSA: Find Shortage Areas: HPSA/MUA/P by address.
How to request a shortage designation
For currently approved sites
The following tip sheets have been developed to assist NHSC site administrators in navigating the online portal. Most core functions and communication with the NHSC will occur through the portal. The four tip sheets presented here address some of the most common functions site administrators need to perform.
- Clinician Management (PDF)
Active clinician management can help site administrators track the number of obligated providers they have at each site, whether they are part of the scholarship or loan repayment program, whether they are completing service as a full- or part-time participant, and the beginning and end dates of their obligation. Tracking this information is useful because site administrators can then assist participants with applying for contract continuations with the NHSC, applying to the Wisconsin Health Professions Loan Assistance Program if they are no longer NHSC eligible, or determining if they can participate in a site-specific program with a service obligation.
Keeping point-of-contact information up-to-date is crucial to ensuring timely and effective communication with NHSC. Sites may have more than one person listed as a contact so that multiple people receive information from the NHSC and remain informed. At least one person will have to be listed as a "recruitment contact." The recruitment contact is the person who will be listed on any job vacancies posted to the NHSC Jobs Center, so it is important that this be someone the organization would want potential job applicants to contact regarding vacancies.
- Site Profile (PDF)
Site profiles are a way to introduce your site to interested job seekers. The information provided in the site profile displays on the job center when someone clicks on your site for more information. A basic site profile including the following is required: site description, hours of operation, site size, number of patients served annually, and all languages spoken. Include additional information (if applicable) to help showcase what is unique about your site, such as a site brochure, any specialty services you offer, other provider benefits, and site photos.
- Vacancy Management (PDF)
All job postings are submitted and managed through the online portal. Timely and efficient management of vacancies ensures that postings on the job center website are accurate and up-to-date. Regular management of vacancies also presents postings from being dropped from the jobs center. Site administrators will receive regular prompts through the portal of when they need to update vacancies so that they do not expire.
Wisconsin Health Professions Loan Assistance Program
- There is no site application process for this program.
- Sites do need to be in a designated HPSA in order for their clinicians to be eligible for loan repayment.