Charlotte, N.C.-based Novant Health has received $1.5 million from the Golden LEAF Foundation to increase access to rural medicine in Pender County.
The funding will be used to establish a rural physician training program at Novant Health Pender Medical Center in Burgaw and Black River Health Services in Atkinson, according to a Feb. 8 news release from Novant Health.
This program began development two years ago as a collaboration between Novant Health, Novant Health New Hanover Regional Medical Center in Wilmington, Black River Health Services and the University of North Carolina School of Medicine in Chapel Hill.
Trainees are set to begin the program in July 2024, and more than 30 jobs are expected to be created through the program, the release said.