OPC: Strengthening Vermont's Primary Care Landscape
Encouraged by the Vermont Legislature, The Robert Larner, M.D. College of Medicine at The University of Vermont established the Office of Primary Care (OPC) in 1993 to focus the College of Medicine's commitment to primary care in Vermont. We are building the state's primary care future.
AHEC: Improving Vermont's Healthcare Workforce
VT AHEC offers statewide health workforce development programs to ensure a current, appropriate workforce, guaranteeing all Vermonters—including those in rural areas—access to quality care. We work across the healthcare workforce pipeline from middle school students to practicing clinicians.
AHEC Information
Network Overview
VT AHEC is a network of academic and community partners working together to improve the supply, geographic distribution, and education of Vermont’s healthcare workforce. Established in 1996, VT AHEC has a statewide infrastructure with a program office at the University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine and two regional centers, each a 501c-3 non-profit organization.
Statewide Demographics
VT is made up of 14 mostly rural counties and has an estimated state population of 647,064. The Northern VT AHEC serves 8 counties (est. pop. 238,443), the Southern VT AHEC serves 5 counties (est. pop. 239,320), and the UVM AHEC Program serves 1 county (est. pop. 169,301). Vermont has 11 Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC) with 73 practice sites. One in every four Vermonters receives care at an FQHC.
Goals and Measures
AHEC has specific goals, milestones, and measures for each objective and activity. VT AHEC has a robust evaluation plan for the range of programs that we provide. These programs include health careers exploration for youth to interprofessional continuing education, educational loan repayment, scholarships, physician recruitment service, and the AHEC Scholars Program. VT AHEC’s Shared AHEC Network Database and Infrastructure (SANDI) system allows longitudinal tracking of program participants, which enables analysis of AHEC's short- and long-range outcomes and collective impact on the VT health workforce.
Funding Sources
VT AHEC is funded through grants and gifts including federal HRSA, VT Department of Health, University of Vermont, and Vermont’s 14 hospitals.
Outcomes FY25
Between July 2024 to June 2025 (FY25), VT AHEC accomplished the following:
- provided continuing education to 2,134 participants
- generated more than 6,564 middle school, high school and undergraduate student connections
- engaged with all medical students at Larner, including 332 enrolled in the AHEC Scholars Program
- supported 71 primary care Family Medicine medical student clinical rotations
- worked with 157 primary care practice sites in the state, many of which precepted UVM LCOM students
- processed 376 applications to the VT Educational Loan Repayment Program for Healthcare Professionals
- disbursed $1,672,860 in federal, state, employer, and private funds
- physician recruitment service directly facilitated 7 new physician placements in VT: 3 in rural areas and one at the FQHC in Chittenden County; the remaining three work in areas that serve significant numbers of underserved patients
VT AHEC is an essential health workforce development infrastructure in the state working to “Connect students to careers, professionals to communities, and communities to better health.”