About the Community Practitioner Program (CPP)
The North Carolina Medical Society Foundation has been placing physicians, physician assistants and nurse practitioners in underserved areas throughout North Carolina to improve access to care for all citizens of our state. In exchange for their commitment to serve in these communities, Community Practitioner Program (CPP) participants receive funds to help offset their outstanding medical education loans as well as practice management assistance and continuing medical education to help ensure their professional success.
If you have questions about the program and want to learn more, please contact the NCMS Foundation, [email protected].
CPP 2.0 Launched in 2023
CPP 2.0 combats workforce shortages that limit healthcare in rural and marginalized communities.
The North Carolina Medical Society Foundation is building on more than three decades of success to help even more North Carolinians. Thanks to a grant from BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina Foundation, the Community Practitioner Program has launched CPP 2.0!
The new program prioritizes several areas not previously supported by the CPP Legacy program.
CPP 2.0:
- Provides educational loan repayment to behavioral health, maternal and women’s health clinicians.
- Identifies opportunities to support retention of clinicians who get educational loan repayment incentives, particularly those receiving NCORH incentive programs.
- Prioritizes diversity by increasing the number of African American/Black, American Indian, Latinx/Hispanic, and LGBTQ+ who apply for the program.
- Develops a workforce pathway into rural and underserved clinical settings by supporting rural preceptors and practice innovation.
CPP 2.0 also works to alter the current rapidly declining trajectory of NC’s rural healthcare workforce so that it is transformed in a single generation; that includes equitable access, a workforce that mirrors the community it serves, and opportunities for marginalized people who are currently underrepresented.
Community Practitioner Program Impact
In its 36 years, the Community Practitioner Program (CPP) has placed…
557
physicians, PAs and NPs from
161
different professional schools at
296
unique practice locations in NC in
93/100
North Carolina counties
CPP participants over the life of the program have provided an average value of…
$19Million
in educational loan repayments in 35 years
$739Million
total in free or reduced-rate care in 35 years
History of the Program
Over thirty years ago, a group of entrepreneurial and forward-thinking leaders came together to plan new ways to increase the recruitment and retention of primary care providers in rural North Carolina. In 1989, the vision, wisdom and passion of two leaders, Dr. Harvey Estes and Jim Bernstein, and the contributions of key state organizations, paved the way for the birth of the Community Practitioner Program. The Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust provided the generous financial support of $4.5 million to make the program a reality, helping medically underserved communities across North Carolina attract and retain needed medical practitioners. In 2005, The Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina (BCBSNC) Foundation provided additional support to the Community Practitioner Program through a five-year $10M grant. While the program receives no state or federal funds, the Foundation does receive donations from physicians and other healthcare providers to do this work along with other partners.
Katie Lowry, MD
Christian Lige, MD
