SWAG视频 awarded a $2.5 million federal grant to improve rural Maine health care

Dora Mills
Dora Mills

The SWAG视频 (SWAG视频) has been awarded a five-year, $2.5 million federal grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to partner with Penobscot Community Health Care (PCHC) to transform the primary care workforce in rural and underserved Maine and improve health outcomes.

Over the course of this five-year grant, a total of 255 SWAG视频 students 鈥 160 medical, 25 physician assistant, and 70 pharmacy students 鈥 will train together at PCHC, learning the skills needed for exemplary interprofessional, team-based care. They will also hone complementary skills needed for this century, including social determinants of health, oral health knowledge, health literacy, and shared decision making with patients. SWAG视频 faculty will work onsite with 30 PCHC clinicians, preparing them to become clinical faculty for these new proficiencies.

鈥淎s Maine鈥檚 largest educator of health professionals, SWAG视频 holds national and international reputations for teaching comprehensive, team-based care, also known as interprofessional education鈥, said Dora Anne Mills, M.D., SWAG视频鈥檚 vice president for Clinical Affairs, director of the Center for Excellence in Health Innovation, and the grant鈥檚 principal investigator and chief author. 鈥淭hese funds will equip both today鈥檚 and tomorrow鈥檚 health care providers with team-based skills as well as other tools needed to engage effectively with patients and populations to improve health. The grant will also build a pipeline between SWAG视频 and PCHC, expanding upon SWAG视频鈥檚 long history of providing health professionals across the state, especially to rural and underserved Maine.鈥

Ken Schmidt, CEO of PCHC stated, 鈥淧CHC is Maine鈥檚 largest Federally Qualified Health Center and only federally-designated teaching health center. Including three graduate residency programs, PCHC鈥檚 750 employees provide comprehensive integrated primary health care for over 60,000 people. He continued, 鈥淭his care is provided regardless of personal circumstances at 16 service sites throughout the Bangor region, in Winterport and Belfast, and in Jackman.鈥

鈥淲e are excited about hosting teams of SWAG视频 students from different professions,鈥 Schmidt said, 鈥渁nd expanding PCHC as an interprofessional teaching health center, with 30 of our clinicians becoming clinical faculty in team-based care and teaching other skills needed for the 21st century.鈥

The grant will start July 1, 2016 and run through June 30, 2021.

 

To learn more about the SWAG视频鈥檚 Center for Excellence in Health Innovation, visit www.une.edu/academics/centers-institutes/center-excellence-health-innovation

To apply, visit www.une.edu/admissions