U.S. Rep. Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (GA-02) presented a ceremonial check Feb. 21 to Augusta University’s Southwest Campus of the Medical College of Georgia representing the $2 million in federal funding the congressman secured for the campus as part of the Fiscal Year 2023 funding bill.

MCG will use the funds to create a primary care workforce training hub that will help provide more physicians and medical professionals to work in and serve rural and underserved communities, particularly in Southwest Georgia.

“The Southwest Campus will become a hub where medical students will be trained to address Georgia’s health care challenges and gain valuable experience in the communities in which they are needed to serve,” said Bishop. “One of my top priorities in Congress is to make sure our rural and underserved communities have the health care professionals, equipment and facilities they need to ensure residents have all of their medical needs met at or as close to home as possible.”

Augusta University leaders said the funding will help MCG fulfill a crucial mission to serve all Georgia residents.

“We are extremely grateful to Congressman Bishop and his team for their continued support of the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University and particularly our Southwest Campus,” said Augusta University President Brooks A. Keel, PhD. “As Georgia’s sole public academic medical center, MCG has a mission and a duty to serve the residents of this state. We want every Georgian, no matter where they live, to have access to high-quality health care provided by well-trained physicians.

“We’re currently facing a crisis-level physician shortage throughout the nation, and the lack of providers in rural settings is especially acute. We share Congressman Bishop’s commitment to Southwest Georgia and know how important it is to ensure this area has plenty of physicians in the future,” said Keel. “I’d like to again thank Congressman Bishop for his securement of $2 million to establish a primary care training hub here on MCG’s Southwest Campus. This funding will allow us to continue training physicians who are dedicated to meeting the health care needs of Georgia and to helping decrease health disparities, both now and into the future, especially for the state’s most underserved patients.”