Two health education centers will be the first formed in Nebraska as
part of a three-year, $2.08 million federal grant that has been awarded
to the University of Nebraska Medical Center.
The centers are being formed through the federal Area Health Education
Center (AHEC) program, through which medical schools and community centers
cooperate to recruit and train health-care professionals to serve in rural
areas.
This is Nebraskas first AHEC grant. Over the next year, the Central
Nebraska AHEC will be formed to support a 28-county area around Grand Island.
A Northeast Nebraska AHEC will take shape around Norfolk in 2002-2003.
Nebraskas reputation as an innovator in addressing rural health concerns
is recognized by this award, said Michael Sitorius, M.D., chairman of
the UNMC department of family medicine and director of the AHEC program
in Nebraska.
This is the beginning of what we anticipate will be a statewide network.
We view the centers as a way to augment what the state, university and
rural communities already are doing to recruit, educate and train students
to practice in rural Nebraska. We look forward to partnering with rural
communities to educate students and practitioners for rural health care.
UNMC was awarded the grant through a competitive process. Dr. Sitorius,
a Cozad native, said the Nebraska congressional delegation and state officials
including Gov. Mike Johanns were supportive of UNMCs funding application
for the centers.
UNMC formalized its commitment to rural Nebraska nearly a decade ago
when it formed the Rural Health Education Network (RHEN), which has begun
several programs including eighth-grade science meets and the highly
successful Rural Health Opportunities Program (RHOP) to address rural
health-care shortages.
AHEC will build on the success of RHEN and will provide for more community
decision-making, in terms of their health-care needs and resources, said
Roxanna Jokela, coordinator of RHEN and deputy director of the UNMC AHEC
program.
The AHEC grant comes after extensive discussions among UNMC officials,
health-care providers around Grand Island and Norfolk, and other agency
officials in those areas. Twenty-eight counties will be served by the Central
Nebraska AHEC. The Central Nebraska AHEC will have its own executive director
and board of directors, who will be named over the next few months. A statewide
advisory board also has yet to be named.
The areas we identify for development will be those which have been
noted by our constituents as those of highest need, or those which they
believe will be of highest need in our 28-county area, said Marie de Martinez,
vice president for planning and development at St. Francis Medical Center
in Grand Island. We have already held meetings in which we have asked
health care providers and public health representatives to identify their
areas of greatest need. So far, physicians, radiation technologists, respiratory
therapists, mental-health providers and dentists have been determined to
be areas of highest need.
It will be incumbent upon the executive director and her or his board
of directors to maintain communication with these health care representatives
in central Nebraska. We must stay ahead of the curve in developing interest
and enthusiasm in people interested in entering health care professions.
We have already identified a board of directors with varied backgrounds
who are committed to this project and will assist in its implementation.
The grant stipulates that 75 percent of the money must go to the rural
Nebraska sites, while the remaining 25 percent can go toward support provided
at the UNMC campus in Omaha.
Of the $2.08 million over the three years, $536,788 has been awarded
for the first year, when the Central Nebraska AHEC will be formed. In 2002-2003,
about $750,000 will be used to continue to support the central Nebraska
site and to form the Northeast Nebraska AHEC.
Were excited, Dr. Sitorius said. Rural health is an important part
of our mission as the states health science center. This is another way
in which we can reach out to the whole state.