Chicago, IL, June 18, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — As part of ongoing efforts to support rural and underserved communities, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME)’s Concurrent Application Pilot is designed to streamline the accreditation process for new Sponsoring Institutions and their residency programs. In January 2026, the first two Sponsoring Institutions in the pilot, Arizona AHEC Primary Care Consortium and Mercy Hospital Springfield, achieved Initial Accreditation; and in April 2026, their first programs, the former in family medicine and the latter in internal medicine, both achieved Initial Accreditation.