Kohl Led Successful Effort to Restore Federal Resources to Keep Doctors Training Program Going

On Wednesday, Feb. 20, US Senator Herb Kohl (D-WI) and Rep. Steve Kagen (D-Appleton) visited UW Health Fox Valley Family Medicine in Appleton to meet with faculty and residents of the training program for family doctors.

In Congress, Senator Kohl led the successful effort to restore federal resources for the residency program, which were cut as a result of an erroneous audit process. Senator Kohl accomplished this by effectively lobbying for the inclusion of language in the Labor-HHS Section of the omnibus spending bill, to restore federal funding for residency training. The legislation was approved by Congress and signed into law this year.

The Fox Valley Family Medicine Residency Program was slated for a permanent loss of funding for several of 18 training slots, as a result of a federal audit that incorrectly discounted the number of filled positions. The resulting shortage of funding threatened closure of the program. With restoration of funding, the program will continue to graduate outstanding family physicians for the area and for the state of Wisconsin. The Fox Valley Family Medicine Residency Training Program has graduated 145 family physicians, most of whom practice in Wisconsin, especially in rural and small urban areas. The Residency Program is one of five campuses of the UW Department of Family Medicine, which consistently ranks in the top 10 family medicine / primary care departments in the nation according to US News & World Report.