NEI-AHEC Mission, Goals, History & Organizational Structure

NEI-AHEC Mission & Goals

Mission

To improve the supply, distribution, generalist-specialist balance, and quality of health care professionals and support personnel through collaborative community and academic partnerships.

NEI-AHEC goals are to:

• Increase diversity in healthcare degree programs and careers, targeting medically underserved areas,
• Enhance the curriculums of healthcare students via hands-on learning experiences,
• Provide continuing education for healthcare providers to assure culturally sensitive care, and
• Promote access by all citizens in the area to quality health, dental and mental healthcare

Organizational Overview & History

Area Health Education Centers (AHECs) are federally funded programs to improve the diversity, distribution and quality of the health professions workforce. AHEC mission is “To enhance access to quality health care, particularly primary and preventive care, by improving the supply and distribution of health care professionals through community/academic educational partnerships.”

Recommendations from 1970 report, Higher Education and the Nation's Health: Policies for Medical and Dental Education included the development of partnerships between university health science centers and community agencies, increased recruitment of women and minorities into healthcare professions, coordinate the education of healthcare professionals, and improve the organization and delivery of healthcare in medically underserved communities. (Carnegie Commission on Higher Education, 1970)

With federal funding, AHECs were started in 1972. Federal budget for the National AHEC system is $28,000,000 annually. At least 75% of the funding is required to go directly to the AHEC Centers. The program is currently reauthorized annually through the Health Professions Education Partnership Act of 1998.

There are 50 AHEC programs and more than 200 centers located in almost every state and the District of Columbia. Within each state, AHECs are coordinated by the statewide Program Office located in an academic health center. In Indiana, the Program Office is located at the Indiana University School of Medicine on the Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) campus in Indianapolis, Indiana. Funding flows through Indiana School of Medicine, via the Program Office with the four AHECs acting as subcontractors.

AHECs throughout the country develop strategies to achieve the mission based on the skills and expertise of their staff and the unique needs of the community in which they preside. A review of AHEC websites throughout the country resulted in the identification of programs, activities, advocacy, and health career promotions, as varied as the quantity of AHECs. Learning from other AHECs at conferences (Indiana Rural Health Association and National AHEC Organization) and other collaborative partnerships has aided in the preliminary activities toward the development of a strategic plan and operational strategies for IPFW Northeast Indiana AHEC.

IPFW NEI-AHEC Organizational Structure

IPFW Northeast Indiana Area Health Education Center (NEI-AHEC) was formed in October 2005 and serves nineteen counties in northeast and central Indiana. These counties are: Adams, Allen, Blackford, DeKalb, Delaware, Elkhart, Grant, Henry, Huntington, Jay, Kosciusko, LaGrange, Noble, Randolph, Steuben, Wabash, Wayne, Wells, and Whitley.  There are four AHECs (soon to be five) in Indiana with administrative oversight in the Indianapolis AHEC Program Office.

West Central Indiana Area Health Education Center (WCI-AHEC) includes the 21 counties of Clay, Daviess, DuBois, Fountain, Gibson, Greene, Knox, Montgomery, Owen, Parke, Perry, Pike, Posey, Putnam, Spencer, Sullivan, Vanderburgh, Vermillion, Vigo, Warren, and Warrick.

Northwest Indiana Area Education Center (NWI-AHEC) includes the 19 counties of Benton, Carroll, Cass, Clinton, Fulton, Howard, Jasper, Lake, LaPorte, Marshall, Miami, Newton, Porter, Pulaski, St. Joseph, Starke, Tippecanoe, Tipton and White.

Southeast/South Central Indiana Area Health Education Center (SE/SCI-AHEC) includes the 24 counties of Bartholomew, Brown, Clark, Crawford, Dearborn, Decatur, Fayette, Floyd, Franklin, Harrison, Jackson, Jefferson, Jennings, Lawrence, Martin, Monroe, Ohio, Orange, Ripley, Rush, Scott, Switzerland, Union, and Washington.

Metropolitan Indianapolis - Central Indiana Area Health Education Center (MI-CI-AHEC) is tentatively scheduled to begin operation by the end of 2006 and will include the nine counties of: Boone, Hamilton, Hancock, Hendricks, Johnson, Madison, Marion, Morgan, and Shelby. 

Currently program oversight includes Renetta Williams (HealthVisions) and the NEI-AHEC Advisory Board.