To encourage more health care providers to serve in rural areas, the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services is offering the opportunity for educational loan repayments. This program, known as the North Carolina Primary Care Physician Incentive, is available to qualifying physicians committed to delivering high-quality, comprehensive care in independent private practices in certain rural counties.
“We deeply value the dedication of our private practice physicians and recognize the essential role they play in ensuring health care access for our rural communities,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Dev Sangvai. “Through this program, we aim to offset some of the financial burden and invest in our health care workforce, particularly in our rural counties.”
North Carolina’s rural population is the second largest in the country, reflecting nearly one in three people in the state, and more than 4.6 million people live in rural counties. From maintaining healthy lifestyles to treating life-threatening illnesses, people depend on and trust their primary care physicians.
The NC Primary Care Physician Incentive is a part of $50 million in funding allocated by the General Assembly to support health care providers, nurses and mental health services. Prior to 2025, independent private practices located in rural, medically underserved areas of the state were not deemed automatically eligible for the state-funded North Carolina Loan Repayment Program. In State Fiscal Year 2024, the NCDHHS Office of Rural Health received one-time funding to launch the incentive.
The program is open to primary care physicians in independent private practices located in Tier 1 and Tier 2 counties based on North Carolina’s County Distress Rankings. Eligible providers include family medicine, general internal medicine, general surgery (within critical access hospitals only), general pediatrics, obstetrics/gynecology or psychiatry physicians operating in these 80 counties.
Applications for the NC Primary Care Physician Incentive are now available, but funding is limited. Awards will be provided on a first-come, first-served basis for eligible and complete applications. NCDHHS will provide up to 16 awards in each of the six Medicaid Regions.
For more information, including eligibility criteria and applications, visit the NCDHHS Office of Rural Health website. Other medical, dental and behavioral health recruitment and incentives are also available for providers through the Office of Rural Health.
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