Opportunity Overview
The New York State Department of Health has opened Primary Care Service Corps Round 8 (SOI #20820 / SFS Advertisement ID #PCSCRD8), a service-obligated loan-repayment program designed to increase the supply of primary care, dental, and behavioral-health clinicians in underserved communities.
Funding and Deadline
NYSDOH states that up to $504,990 is available for new Round 8 awards. Written questions are due September 14, 2026 at 4:00 PM ET, answers are expected on or about September 28, and applications are due October 27, 2026 at 4:00 PM ET.
Addendum #1 — Updated Eligibility Attachment Required
NYSDOH issued Addendum #1 on September 2, 2026. It changes line two of Attachment 1 — Minimum Eligibility Requirements to July 1, 2026, superseding the original August 27 attachment. The Department states that applicants must use the updated Attachment 1 when submitting. The corrected eligibility item requires the clinician to be employed at the intended worksite on or before July 1, 2026.
Eligible Clinicians
Eligible professions include dentists, dental hygienists, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, certified nurse midwives, clinical psychologists, licensed clinical social workers, licensed marriage and family therapists, and licensed mental health counselors. Applicants must satisfy the SOI’s citizenship or permanent-residency, New York licensure, good-standing, debt, service-obligation and employment requirements.
Service-Site and Practice Requirements
The clinician must practice at an active NHSC-approved site with a Health Professional Shortage Area score of at least 1 for the applicable discipline. The program supports primary care, behavioral health, general or pediatric dentistry and dental hygiene in eligible settings. Except for full-time dentists, the baseline service requirement is at least 20 hours per week for at least 45 weeks per service year. The SOI provides tailored hour rules for geriatric and behavioral-health clinicians, certified nurse midwives, and NPs/PAs/CNMs serving Critical Access Hospitals.
School-based health center relevance: when an intended worksite is a School Based Clinic, Attachment 1 requires the Employment Letter to state that the clinician will primarily provide direct clinical and counseling services and will meet the clinical-practice requirements for the entire calendar year.
Award Levels and an Internal SOI Discrepancy
The SOI introduction and Project Narrative state awards of up to $72,000 for full-time dentists, $54,000 for nurse practitioners, physician assistants and certified nurse midwives, and $36,000 for eligible behavioral-health clinicians and dental hygienists, limited by qualifying educational debt. However, the later Award Limits section states $56,000 for nurse practitioners, physician assistants and nurse midwives. Atlas treats this as an unresolved internal inconsistency in the controlling SOI and recommends that applicants in those three professions submit a clarification question by September 14 before relying on either maximum.
Use of Funds
One hundred percent of the award must be applied to qualified educational debt. This is a workforce-retention and recruitment resource, not an equipment, software, telehealth, or vendor-purchasing grant. Loan statements must generally be dated no more than 30 days before submission, and awardees must document application of grant disbursements to approved educational debt within the program’s required timeframe.
Application Mechanics
The application is submitted by email to the address identified in the SOI. NYSDOH requires one email containing each required attachment as its own PDF. Mandatory items include Attachment 1 minimum eligibility, Attachment 2 program-specific questions, current loan statements, consent to disclosure, the employer letter, site information, current professional license, and the default-penalty attestation. Applicants who cannot successfully complete Attachment 1 are not eligible and should not continue.
Applications are reviewed pass/fail and in the order received. If an application is incomplete, NYSDOH provides one opportunity to supply missing information within 10 business days of notice; failure to cure within that window ends further processing. Late applications are not accepted.
Atlas Analysis
Atlas Opportunity Score: 90/100. This is a strong healthcare-workforce opportunity for underserved New York communities and a useful recruitment/retention tool for NHSC-approved employers, including qualifying rural, behavioral-health, primary-care, dental, Critical Access Hospital-affiliated and school-based settings. N9+ Direct Vendor Fit: 0/100 because all award funds must go to qualified educational debt.
Next Action
Use the September 2 Addendum #1 version of Attachment 1; verify July 1, 2026 worksite employment, profession-specific licensure, qualifying educational debt, employer and NHSC-site eligibility, HPSA score, service-obligation rules and all mandatory attachments. NPs, PAs and certified nurse midwives should submit a clarification question by September 14, 2026 at 4:00 PM ET regarding the $54,000 versus $56,000 cap discrepancy. Submit the complete one-email PDF package by October 27, 2026 at 4:00 PM ET.
Official source: New York State Department of Health — SOI #20820 Primary Care Service Corps Round 8, including Addendum #1.