government
House extends GME funding at children's hospitals
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Oct. 3, 2011
The House on Sept. 20 approved by a voice vote a measure to reauthorize funding for graduate medical education in children's hospitals for five years.
The measure, the Children's Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act of 2011, would cost $1.6 billion from fiscal 2012 to 2016, according to the Congressional Budget Office. The bill has 114 co-sponsors. The measure next heads to the Senate for approval.
American Academy of Pediatrics President O. Marion Burton, MD, encouraged the Senate to pass the bill quickly. Independent children's teaching hospitals represent less than 1% of all hospitals but train nearly 30% of all pediatricians and nearly half of all pediatric specialists, she said.
"The funding from the CHGME program helps to ensure that children have access to the trained pediatricians they need. Independent children's hospitals, with federal CHGME support, have played a key role in ensuring the continued growth of our nation's pediatric work force, including pediatric subspecialists in short supply," she said.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2011/10/03/gvbf1003.htm.