65% of primary care physicians in Kentucky practice in urban counties, according to the University of Kentucky.

Senate President Robert Stivers says.

That leaves too many areas underserved.

He's the sponsor of Senate Joint Resolution 116, which would mandate three of Kentucky's universities to search for solutions to the physician workforce shortage in the next year.

The resolution was heard in committee this morning.

Our Mackenzie Spink brings us more in tonight's legislative update.

The University of Kentucky and University of Louisville graduate physicians every year, and Eastern Kentucky University will soon do the same with its osteopathic medicine school.

Senate President Robert Stivers says that's why they're the right institutions to find answers for the state's health care challenges.

To me, they would be the people, since they are the teaching schools for our physicians to look at this and should know whether it is, you know, loan forgiveness, scholarships, recruitment, technology, you know, what?

What are all the different assets we could use?

What are the different pieces of the puzzle that we can put together to better serve the Commonwealth in the delivery of health care?

A lack of physicians in rural areas can lead to worsening health outcomes, and be a financial burden on patients who have to travel to seek health care.

President Stivers says he's seen the benefit of having a hospital in his rural hometown.

He says solving the physician shortage isn't just a health care issue, but an economic one, too.

Thinking of the health care that we have access to, that very, very few small towns have is wonderful.

But then thinking of the economic engine that it is for my hometown is really quite unbelievable.

And when we have these deserts unserved or underserved area, this is not just a health care issue.

It is both health care and economic development in places that are woefully underserved in bone.

He can't recruit a hospital, or we can't recruit enough industry to a county that doesn't have a hospital.

So that's part of our challenge, too.

If we're going to improve the economy of Kentucky.

We have to make sure we have a foundation throughout Kentucky to support health care and education.

One of the issues Senate Joint Resolution 116, aims to find solutions for is medical students studying in Kentucky, but leaving to practice in other states.

Louisville Democrat Senator Karen Berg, a physician herself, is supportive of the resolution but says the legislature should look in the mirror to see why health care professionals may leave the state.

First, we have to identify how many of our best and brightest can we accommodate.

Where do we train them?

And how do we keep them?

And that is an issue that I think we need to discuss in this legislature at some point, because a lot of my colleagues do not feel that this legislature is friendly to physicians.

And they leave because they have a lot of options.

So there's multiple issues here.

Senate Joint Resolution 116 passed the Senate Health Services Committee unanimously and will next head to the Senate floor for a vote there.

For Kentucky edition, I'm McKenzie Spink.

Thank you so much, McKenzie.

If the measure passes, the University of Kentucky, University of Louisville and Eastern Kentucky University, what happened to the start of 2027 to deliver findings to the Kentucky General Assembly?