On Friday, Feb. 13, Gov. Kim Reynolds, the Iowa Department of Education and the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) announced that they are seeking qualified applicants for the state’s new Health Care Professional Incentive Program. The program is designed to recruit and retain medical professionals to meet health care demands in high-need counties across Iowa. A state investment of nearly $8 million is available for the program’s first year of awards.
Established by House File 972, which was proposed by Gov. Reynolds and signed into law in May 2025, the Health Care Professional Incentive Program will provide financial awards to eligible health care professionals who commit to practicing in high-demand fields in underserved counties. Participants must agree to practice for up to five consecutive years in full-time employment or seven consecutive years in part-time employment. Click here to learn more and apply. The application deadline is March 31.
Identified in coordination with DHHS, eligible health care occupations include:
- Advanced registered nurse practitioner
- Licensed professional counselor
- Nurse educator
- Occupational therapist
- Physical therapist
- Physician assistant
- Physician
- Registered nurse
- Social worker (specific to mental health counseling)
In addition to serving in an eligible health care occupation, applicants must be licensed to practice and be employed in one of the following 36 identified counties across the state: Adair, Adams, Allamakee, Appanoose, Benton, Buena Vista, Butler, Carroll, Cedar, Chickasaw, Clarke, Clayton, Decatur, Delaware, Fayette, Franklin, Fremont, Greene, Grundy, Guthrie, Hamilton, Iowa, Keokuk, Lucas, Lyon, Madison, Mills, O’Brien, Osceola, Pocahontas, Ringgold, Tama, Taylor, Wayne, Winnebago and Worth.
Awardees may choose to receive the incentive as either an income bonus or as a federal student loan payment. The incentive will be distributed annually at the end of each year of qualifying employment. Awardees practicing full-time will receive 25% of the maximum award after their first year of qualified employment; 15% after the second, third and fourth years; and 35% upon completion of the fifth year of employment. Awarded health care professionals who are working part-time will have a seven-year employment obligation and can receive prorated payouts for each of seven years.
The new program consolidates and streamlines five prior health care incentive programs into a single program to more effectively and efficiently deliver health care to Iowans. To be eligible, applicants must not have previously received funding from any of the state’s prior health care incentive programs, including the Primary Care Provider Loan Repayment Program, Rural Iowa Primary Care Loan Repayment Program, Health Care Professional Recruitment Program, Health Care Award Program and the Mental Health Professional Loan Repayment Program.
More information about the Health Care Professional Incentive Program, including detailed eligibility criteria, award amounts and application instructions, is available on the Iowa Department of Education’s Health Care Professional Incentive Program webpage. View the complete media release here.