The U.S. already faced shortages in its health care workforce, then the pandemic spurred even more doctors and nurses to retire or leave hospital jobs. Filling those vacancies is a challenge.

Mercer University School of Medicine is hoping to boost recruitment of rural Georgians, whose hometowns often lack access to primary care providers.

In Rhode Island, safety-net clinics are under new pressures as clinicians retire or burn out. Patients report that it's harder to find care, and they're losing connections to familiar doctors.