“Eleven of our grants this year focus on education for medical professionals and eight grants address behavioral health, issues that are extremely important to the health of all Arkansans,” said Rebecca Pittillo, executive director of the Blue & You Foundation. “Ten of our grants will reach Arkansans statewide. And because we are very aware of the need for more health equity within our state, eight of our grants focus specifically on minority populations.”
The need for qualified healthcare workers and better access to behavioral health services continue to grow in Arkansas. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, one in five adults experiences mental illness. And according to the latest state report on healthcare licensures in Arkansas, there were seven counties in the state that only had one primary care physician in 2019, and several had no dentists.