Invest Rural NJ Clinician Recruitment & Retention Incentive

Summary

The program is led by the Center for Health Equity & Wellbeing (CHEW-NJPHI), New Jersey's Public Health Institute, in partnership with the New Jersey Department of Health (NJDOH), and is funded through the federal Rural Health Transformation (RHT) Program. The initiative offers tiered, minimum five-year incentive awards to eligible new and current clinicians who make a minimum five-year service commitment in qualifying rural areas of New Jersey. Awards are delivered by CHEW-NJPHI and are designed to address persistent workforce shortages and expand access for Medicaid, Medicare, and uninsured or underinsured patients. Services must be delivered in federally defined rural census tracts or state-defined rural counties at eligible healthcare sites, including hospitals, ambulatory care centers, FQHCs, CCBHCs, and eligible private practices. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis across four cohorts through September 30, 2026.

Eligibility

Eligible clinicians fall into four tiers: (1) Physicians (MD/DO) and Dentists; (2) Nurse Practitioners, Physician Assistants, Psychiatric Nurse Practitioners, Certified Nurse Midwives; (3) Registered Nurses and Licensed Practical Nurses; (4) Behavioral health clinicians including: LCSWs, LSWs, LPCs, LMFTs, LACs, Psychologists. Eligible sites are hospitals, ambulatory care centers, FQHCs, CCBHCs, and individual/group private practices located in federally or state-defined rural areas of New Jersey that primarily serve Medicaid, Medicare, uninsured, underinsured, or sliding-fee populations.

Requirements Checklist