With the $10 million grant award, the university will serve as a lead partner in Health Workforce Ohio.
Ohio University has received a $10 million award from the State of Ohio’s Rural Health Transformation Program. The funding will allow the university to participate in an initiative called Health Workforce Ohio as the lead partner. The initiative is a statewide rural health workforce development strategy that will help recruit, train and retain health professionals in rural Ohio communities through healthcare collaborations around the state.
According to an article on Ohio University’s website, Lori Stewart Gonzalez, the university's president, was quoted as saying of the initiative, “Access to quality health care should not depend on where you live. This landmark investment positions Ohio to become a national leader in rural health workforce innovation and reflects a powerful commitment to the people and communities that are too often underserved. Ohio University is proud to help lead this work, convening partners from across the state to build stronger workforce pipelines, expand access to care and create lasting solutions that will improve health outcomes for generations of Ohioans. Together, we have an opportunity to transform rural health across our state.”
Co-leading the Health Workforce Ohio initiative with Ohio University is The Health Collaborative, which is an organization that helps establish cross-sector partnerships that help create solutions to pressing health issues, and the Ohio Association of Community Health Centers, which will chair a committee of 11 statewide organizations for this initiative. Together, these organizations will assist the university in creating a network of health care employers, schools, training providers, and community organizations to recruit, train and retain health professionals in rural communities throughout Ohio.
Currently, there are 85 organizations from the health care, education, and workforce sectors set to be collaborators and partners in Ohio University’s Health Workforce Ohio strategy. The university’s Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine, College of Health Sciences and Professions, and Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Service are among the number of collaborators.
Ohio University’s Vice President of Health Affairs and Senior Strategist for Health Partnerships, Ken Johnson, said of the sheer number of participants in the initiative, “The scale of collaboration behind Health Workforce Ohio is unlike anything I’ve seen. This initiative has brought together an unprecedented coalition focused on a common goal: strengthening Ohio’s health workforce. Rick Hodges deserves tremendous credit for helping bring this vision to life, along with many other partners who have contributed along the way. Health care’s biggest challenges require collective action, and Health Workforce Ohio is proof of what is possible when organizations come together with a shared purpose.”
Health Workforce Ohio will create more healthcare career exploration opportunities for students in rural communities, increase the number of available apprenticeships, strengthen telehealth and digital health training, reduce barriers to entering healthcare education, and support upskilling opportunities for those who are currently working in healthcare. Together, these separate efforts will work to create a strengthened rural healthcare landscape through a modernized infrastructure and innovative care options for underserved communities.
For more information about Ohio University, visit the school’s website.