GREENFIELD — With the continued success of the first accredited family medicine training program in western Massachusetts, state legislators joined Baystate Franklin Medical Center’s Department of Family Medicine Friday morning for a roundtable discussion on the program and how state funding has helped it blossom.

Baystate Health’s Greenfield Family Medicine Residency Program, which launched in 2022, was established to develop a teaching center in the region to draw primary care physicians to Franklin County. The region is designated as a Rural Health Professional Shortage Area by the federal Health Resources & Services Administration, which means there are fewer than eight primary care physicians per 10,000 people. It also exists as the first Baystate Health academic department housed outside of Springfield.

Friday’s discussion came together as an opportunity for the doctors and residents to chat with state Reps. Natalie Blais and Susannah Whipps, as well as Sen. Jo Comerford, who all helped secure a $250,000 earmark for the Greenfield residency program for fiscal year 2025. The Legislature also provided a $150,000 earmark in FY24. Greenfield Mayor Ginny Desorgher’s Chief of Staff Erin Anhalt was also in attendance.

“A great deal of our work is constituent services and oftentimes it’s not just an individual that comes in, it’s a family issue,” Whipps said. “I really think we need to start focusing a little more on the common health of Massachusetts. As a business owner, I know if my employees have stuff going on at home, if there’s illness, if there’s mental health issues … that adds so much pressure that it’s hard to come to work, it’s hard to focus. I love the idea of this holistic approach.”

State funding, according to a handout from the hospital, would allow the program to design curriculum addressing Franklin County’s specific health care needs, provide faculty/doctor development, help with the creation of marketing materials and recruitment activities, and enhance community access.

The residency exists as a partnership between Baystate Franklin Medical Center and the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, and has also given Baystate Franklin the designation of a teaching hospital, which is a “pretty remarkable” achievement for a community hospital, according to Dr. Robert Baldor, a professor and chair of family medicine at UMass Chan Medical School.

“Family medicine as a medical discipline is built around the social unit, the family. We take care of everybody in the family, as opposed to pediatricians just take care of kids or geriatricians just take care of the elderly,” Baldor said, explaining the importance of family medicine. “As a family doctor, we have to ensure there’s a broad range of training here and that people really have the skills to take care of it … so, family physicians are probably the premier primary care providers you can have in a community.”

A key focus of the program, Baldor said, is finding folks who have a tie to the region. Three of the four senior residents — Dr. Mmaserame Gaefele, Dr. Rachel Anderson and Dr. John Romano — are staying in the area and the current class of residents has six people living in Greenfield, one in Conway and one in Millers Falls.

With the program proving to be successful and plans to expand on the horizon, the legislators expressed their support for future funding, with the possibility of exploring line item funding rather than an earmark. Baldor noted ongoing funding would be “hugely important.”

“Make that ask,” Blais said, “You’ve made the case, it’s clear.”

Whipps added that programs like this are valuable — both health-wise and financially — as easily accessible medical care can help treat diseases and other ailments before they become debilitating or malignant.

“Spending a little money upfront,” Whipps said, “at places like this, saves money.”

Chris Larabee can be reached at clarabee@recorder.com.