Community Health Center, Inc. Selected to Provide Technical Support and Training to Health Centers Across the Country
Community Health Center, Inc. (CHC) announced today that it has been awarded the Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA) National Training and Technical Assistance Cooperative Agreement (NCA) focused on Clinical Workforce Development. With $1 million in funding over the next two years, CHC will engage health centers across the country in developing health professions training programs at both the pre-professional and post-graduate level, and team-based primary care practice models.
“This HRSA National Cooperative Agreement, the only one awarded nationally for workforce development, is an enormous honor for CHC. To transform primary care, we need an expert workforce trained to a high performance model of primary care,” said Margaret Flinter, PhD, APRN, Senior VP/Clinical Director of CHC and PI for this award. “The award recognizes CHC’s expertise in health professions training and team-based care. It also builds on our experience through our Weitzman Institute in engaging organizations in a process of transformation and continuous improvement. We are excited about the ability to provide technical assistance and guidance to the more than 1,000 health centers across the United States.”
The two HRSA designated Target Area Specific Measures for clinical workforce development include increasing the percentage of health centers with a formal program to advance the education of healthcare professionals, and increasing the percentage of health centers utilizing team-based practice models.
CHC, which established the nation’s first nurse practitioner residency training program in 2007, will provide education, information, and training to community health centers in the areas relevant to the establishment of post-graduate nurse practitioner residency programs; establishment of post-doctoral clinical psychology residency programs; in developing a systematic approach to engaging students and trainees from academic partners in the health center for a portion of their education and training; and in implementing or advancing their team-based model of practice.
The Weitzman Institute is dedicated to inspiring primary care innovation for the underserved through research, training and consulting. Through the Institute CHC will help health centers employ many of its innovative and successful learning programs. These including linking primary care providers with expert specialists through Project ECHO™ (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes) videoconferencing consultative sessions, hosting interactive webinars via “Zoom” technology, developing interprofessional learning collaboratives among participating health centers, and utilizing the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s (IHI’s) Breakthrough Series Collaborative - a collaborative learning model used for training healthcare personnel to improve quality in their organizations.
“We're honored to have been selected to provide technical support and training to community health centers across the country”, said Mark Masselli, President/CEO of CHC. “This network cares for over 20 million Americans and already provides some of the highest quality care in the country. We hope to cultivate these additional quality tools to support their work in treating underserved and special populations.”
Eliza Cole
(860) 852-0826 (office) or (860) 262-2546 (cell)
eliza@chc1.com
About Community Health Center, Inc.
Since 1972, Community Health Center, Inc. has been one of the leading healthcare providers in the state of Connecticut, building a world-class primary health care system committed to caring for uninsured and underinsured populations. CHC is focused on improving health outcomes for its more than 130,000 patients as well as building healthy communities. Recognized as both a Level 3 Patient-Centered Medical Home by the National Committee for Quality Assurance and a Primary Care Medical Home by The Joint Commission, CHC delivers service in 201 locations statewide, offering primary care in medicine, dentistry and behavioral health services. For more information, visit www.chc1.com.
About The Weitzman Institute
The Weitzman Institute was established in 2013 by the Community Health Center, Inc., and is named in honor of Jerry Weitzman, a community pharmacist, one of CHC’s founders, and a long-time board member. Located in Middletown, CT, the Center promotes innovations in quality improvement techniques as well as critical investigation in primary care and systems redesign. Research and improvement work at the institute are focused on areas that have direct implications on the day to day practice of primary care for medically underserved patients. For more information, visit www.weitzmaninstitute.org.
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