Sen. Brown Announces Federal Resources to Enhance Health Profession Training Programs and Community Partnerships in Erie and Surrounding Counties

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) announced new federal resources that will maintain and enhance the health professions education network affiliated with the University of Toledo College of Medicine’s Bryan Area Health Education Center (AHEC). The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will award the Ohio’s AHEC Point of Service Maintenance and Enhancement project with more than $813,000 between now and August of next year. Part of those funds will go towards the Sandusky AHEC which includes Erie, Huron, Sandusky, Seneca, and Ottawa Counties.

“This is good news for Ohio’s rural and underserved communities,” Brown said. “By ensuring health care education is available in rural areas, we are making a commitment to Ohioans that no matter where you live, you will have access to the best health education there is to offer. It will allow rural health providers to expand their reach and the range of services they provide.”

The grant will allow the Ohio AHEC to maintain and enhance the network which links health profession training programs and community partners in rural and underserved communities. The Ohio AHEC is a project spearheaded at the University of Toledo and affiliated with three additional Ohio medical schools: Northeast Ohio Medical University, Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine, and the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. The goal of the project is to improve the medical education pipeline from middle school students to medical residents through community based student education, health careers promotion, and enhanced professional education. The project will include a wide-ranging number of services including clinical clerkships, summer science camps, 700 volunteer physician teachers, and health career and pipeline programs for 13,000 participants.

In July, Brown introduced the Strengthening Employment Clusters to Organize Regional Success (SECTORS) Act of 2013, bipartisan legislation that would help dislocated workers train for high-tech jobs in their region. The SECTORS Act, which Brown introduced with U.S. Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), would organize stakeholders connected to a regional industry, including business and labor leaders, education and training providers, and local workforce and education system administrators, to develop plans for growing that industry. Brown and Collins intend to work with colleagues to make the SECTORS Act part of the bipartisan Workforce Investment Act Reauthorization.

Communities with AHECs sharing in the award are listed below:

###