FORT SMITH, Ark (KNWA /KFTA) — The United States has seen a shortage of primary care physicians, but Mercy Hospital in Fort Smith has a program that aims to fix that problem in Arkansas.

According to Forbes Advisor, the state of Arkansas is the sixth worst state for healthcare.

Mercy Fort Smith’s family medicine residency program allows doctors the opportunity to practice after medical school. The program is application based, but once accepted, residents relocate to the region to participate in practices that help sharpen their skills.

One resident, Omar Kahn, is a Canadian native who is in his third year in the program. Kahn says the nature of Arkansas, the people, but most importantly his desire to help has aided his decision to stay in Arkansas to be a local primary care physician.

Mercy Fort Smith recently received an “A” grade on the Leapfrog evaluation that grades hospitals around the nation on multiple categories. President of Mercy Arkansas Communities Ryan Gehrig says that this “helps us separate ourselves and it helps doctors in the process of where they want to live and work. So, we have a great story to tell. and this is this is part of that story.”