The Oregon Office of Rural Health at Oregon Health & Science University has announced the recipients of the 2012 Primary Health Care Loan Forgiveness (PHCLF) awards. Five individuals will receive forgivable loans to be used for educational expenses during the 2012-13 school year.

Dean Defrees, of Baker City, Ore., and Anisa Richardson, from Wrangell, Alaska, received two-year PHCLF awards. Jay Williams, of Spokane, Wash., and Sarah Williams, from Boulder, Colo., were given one-year PHCLF awards; all four recipients currently are enrolled in the OHSU School of Medicine.

Rebecca Gray, of Spray, Ore., received a two-year PHCLF award to enroll in the OHSU School of Nursing Family Nurse Practitioner/Doctor of Nursing Practice program.

The Primary Health Care Loan Forgiveness Program, created by the 2011 Oregon Legislature and administered by the Oregon Office of Rural Health at OHSU, can award a maximum of $35,000 a year to a medical, physician assistant or nurse practitioner student enrolled in an approved rural-specific Oregon training program.

Students commit to one year of clinical service in an approved rural Oregon practice site for each year of the award. Eligible practice sites must be located in rural, federally designated Health Profession Shortage Areas, Medically Underserved Areas or an Area of Unmet Healthcare Need, as designated by the Oregon Office of Rural Health.

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