Office of Mississippi Physician Workforce

The Office of Mississippi Physician Workforce (OMPW) was established by House Bill 317 and signed into law by Governor Phil Bryant in 2012. The bill, introduced by Rep. Sam Mims, created an office within the University of Mississippi Medical Center for the purpose of overseeing the  physician workforce development and needs, both in numbers and distribution, for the state. 

Primary care physicians (PCP) workforce shortages challenge the long term viability of U.S. primary care. According to the Robert Graham Center, the state will require an additional 364 primary care physicians by 2030, a 24% increase of the state's current practicing PCPs. The 2030 projections stands below the national overall. 

OMPW, with its 21-member advisory board, is working to bolster the primary care pipeline. The office oversees physician workforce development needs by: 

• Supporting the creation of accredited family medicine residency programs in the state, including the awarding state financial support for creation of these programs
• Encouraging the development of an adequate and geographically distributed physician workforce in all specialties with an evolving strategic plan
• Assessing the current numbers, ages, gender, ethnicity, types of practice and geographic distribution of the physicians in each medical specialty licensed in Mississippi while developing a robust data base of these demographics
• Assessing the current and future physician workforce needs of Mississippi