July 26, 2024
Shawnee State University has received $20,000 in funding as part of an effort to address healthcare workforce challenges, foster economic development, and promote regional prosperity in Central Appalachia. The ground-breaking initiative – the Regional Public Colleges & Universities (RPCU) Central Appalachia Health Consortium – is part of the Appalachian Regional Commission’s Appalachian Regional Initiative for Strong Economies (ARISE).
Aligning with the mission of the newly established College for Health & Human Services at SSU, Interim Dean Dr. Christine Raber is grateful for the opportunity to bring SSU to the forefront of meeting healthcare shortages throughout the region.
“The RPCU Central Appalachia Health Consortium provides an important mechanism for collaboration which supports the goal of assessing the strengths and needs of our existing health programs in relation to our partner institutions’ programs so that together we can identify health care workforce solutions that are mutually beneficial,” said Dr. Raber.
Collaborating universities include SSU, Appalachian State University, Eastern Kentucky University, Marshall University, Ohio University, Radford University, and East Tennessee State University, the latter of which will serve as the lead institution within the consortium. Exploring a variety of strategies for working together and impacting health and economic outcomes in central Appalachia, the consortium will work to implement five major activities as part of this multi-state effort: formalizing relationships between university partners, conducting a needs and gap analysis of health care workforce training, research review, developing an implementation plan, and developing an RPCU Central Appalachia Health Consortium Landing Page.
The initiative encompasses 235 counties in six states: Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky, Virginia, Tennessee and North Carolina. Of those 235 counties, only six are not in an area designated a primary care health professional shortage area, and just four are not in a dental care health professional shortage area.
SSU’s College of Health & Human Services was announced earlier this year as a part of ongoing initiatives to meet the demands of healthcare and social services within the region. The college is home to numerous professional programs offered at the associate, baccalaureate, master’s and doctoral degree levels. Programs within the college represent the departments of Allied Health Sciences and Rehabilitation Sciences, as well as the School of Nursing. Within the college’s programs, graduates are prepared to successfully enter the workforce by combining a solid foundation of general education courses and integrated laboratory and practical experiences in healthcare settings across the region.
To learn more about the College of Health & Human Services at Shawnee State University, visit shawnee.edu/health-human-services.