Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll announced Monday more than $140 million in awards to benefit primary care and behavioral health providers across the state.

The repayment program will be distributed by the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers and Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services, and will help around 3,000 providers.

The administration said the hope is the program provides educational debt relief to health care workers in some of the fields hit hardest during the COVID-19 pandemic. Driscoll said 45% of people getting assistance are people of color, 70% work full-time in community-based settings and nearly half are under the age of 35.

"This program will be a lifeline for thousands of health care providers in Massachusetts,” Driscoll said. “It will break down those barriers that our health care providers often face, open up the workforce and opportunities to grow in this profession, especially at a time we're seeing a severe shortage of health care workers. We're also investing in this generation to make sure they're not racking up that debt, that they're providing that access to education."

Driscoll said there will be continued expansion of the program, with plans to add more than $100 million in the coming months.

The next rounds of funding are expected to target home and human services providers, licensed nurses and department of mental health employees.