Last updated: December 23, 2015

Author: State Office of Rural Health & Primary Care

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Vermont does not currently have complete Full Time Equivalent (FTE) data to report on this specific indicator. We collected data on hours, practice location and other factors in February and March 2015 on all registered nurses and advance practice registered nurses (APRNs). We have shared that data with our partners at the University of Vermont’s College of Nursing and Health Sciences.They report that of the 610 APRNs who responded to the survey (99%), 538 are currently working in Vermont.They also report that 77% of APRNs are Nurse Practitioners.Of all APRNs, 44% are credentialed for Family Medicine (all ages), 20% for Adult Medicine and 14% for Psychiatry/Mental Health.

The average age of working APRNs is 51.5 years, ranging from 21 to 81 years. As for practice settings, 31% of APRN’s are working in a physician/APRN practice, 17% in hospital outpatient, 12% in hospital inpatient, and 8% in community health centers.

Visit http://www.uvm.edu/medicine/ahec/Reports to download workforce reports.

As with Physicians, Nurse Practitioners are not equally distributed around the state.Working with the UVM College of Nursing and Health Sciences we hope to identify specific geographic areas of shortage.

There is a particular shortage of Psychiatric Nurse Practitioners in Vermont, which has limited the number of beds available for care at the new Psychiatric State Hospital. During 2015 we have shifted some educational loan repayment (ELR) program funds towards Nurse Practitioners who agree to work in the State’s new Psychiatric Hospital.

The total number, hours of patient care and geographic distribution of healthcare professionals is critical data for determining health professional shortage areas (HPSAs) and priority geographic regions for recruitment and retention incentives such as educational loan repayment resources from federal and state funds.

This indicator is part of Healthy Vermonters 2020 (the State Health Assessment) that documents the health status of Vermonters at the start of the decade and the population health indicators and goals that will guide the work of public health through 2020. Click here for more information.

Recruitment and retention incentives

• UVM's Area Health Education Center (AHEC) Program Office, Burlington, VT https://www.uvm.edu/medicine/ahec/
  • Champlain Valley AHEC, St. Albans, VT
  • Northeastern Kingdom AHEC, St. Johnsbury, VT
  • Southern Vermont AHEC, Springfield, VT
• The Vermont/New Hampshire Recruitment Center, a program of Bi-State Primary Care Association, http://www.bistatepca.org/recruitmen-center.
• Rural Recruitment and Retention Network www.3RNet.org

Healthcare organizations are major employers in many of Vermont’s small communities, and healthcare careers can be provide good wages and salaries for many positions.

The Vermont AHEC Network offers a variety of programs to increase awareness and interest in a wide range of health care careers, including primary care nurse practitioners, among high school and college students in Vermont.These program include MedQuest and College Quest, Shadow Days in practices, Student Career Days and other efforts.

UVM's Area Health Education Center (AHEC) program office and regional AHECs manage and distribute the state-appropriated Educational Loan Repayment Program (ELRP) awards for Primary Care Providers, including nurse practitioners, Dentists, Nurses and Nurse Faculty. https://www.uvm.edu/medicine/ahec/.

Beginning in the 2015-16 educational loan repayment (ELR) cycle we decided to shift emphasis additional funds to incentives for Psychiatric APRNs, especially those working in the state psychiatric hospital.

The Vermont/New Hampshire Recruitment Center, a program of Bi-State Primary Care Association, works with Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), Rural Health Clinics (RHCs) and others to recruit physicians to work in under-served areas of Vermont. http://www.bistatepca.org/recruitmen-center.

VDH will continue to work with partners identified here as well as hospitals, FQHCs and others to coordinate recruitment and retention efforts and incentives for primary care professionals.VDH manages the loan repayment programs through AHEC, VSAC and National Health Service Corps (NHSC).

We will continue to collect data from key healthcare professions every two years, pursue federal Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs) designations for eligible geographic regions and target our limited state and federal resources to geographic areas and specialties with greatest needs.

Data analysts from the Vermont Department of Health work with the Secretary of State’s Office of Professional Regulation and other licensing boards to collect information about patient care hours, practice locations and other data through an online census of ~99% of all licensed healthcare providers in 40+ professions every two years in most cases.

This data is analyzed and reported by county, FTE, demographics, population ratios, practice type, and trends over time for key professions such as physicians, physician assistants, dentists, nurse practitioners, and others.Shorter data briefs will be developed for select healthcare professions in the future.

For more information about this indicator, Click here.