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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQs)
- What Is An AHEC?
- Area Health Education Centers (AHECs) were begun by the federal government
in the late 1970's as programs designed to address health manpower
distribution through community based initiatives.
- How Are AHECs Structured?
- AHECs are administered by a school of medicine, which is the program
office, and subcontracts with remote centers from the medical school.
Each center must be a 501(c)3 entity, governed by a Board of Directors
representing the region surrounding the center. A program office may
receive a maximum of twelve years of federal seed funding, while the
centers are eligible for six years of funding. The program office
administers a multidisciplinary academic consortium that includes
one or more nursing
schools and schools of other health professions, such as allied health
and social work. In Georgia there are two main program offices, with
one having two campus. There are six AHECs in Georgia. Visit the Georgia
Statewide AHEC Network
- How Are AHECs Funded?
- The federal government, through competitive grants, makes “seed
monies” available to establish AHEC programs and centers. The intent
is to provide sufficient dollars to build the infrastructure and to build
a case for state support assuming the activities and accomplishments
are of value to the communities served by the AHEC.
- What Is The Role Of The Community In AHEC?
- Communities are the heart of AHEC. The centers are governed by a community
Board of Directors who live in and represent the region served. These
community boards identify the needs and priorities for health care
professionals in their region within the scope of the broad AHEC objectives.
The AHEC employees live in the center's region and are employees of
the Board of Directors rather than of the academic partner. A minimum
of 75% of all federal dollars awarded must be subcontracted directly
to the centers, with the remaining financial oversight and to develop
institutional support and linkages needed by the committee.
- How Many AHECs Operate In Georgia?
- There are six AHECs
in Georgia.
The AHEC program in Georgia was begun by the Morehouse
School of Medicine (MSM) in 1984 with the establishment of two centers,
the Atlanta AHEC (serving three metropolitan areas) and the Tuskegee
AHEC in Alabama.
The Atlanta AHEC's full name is Southeastern
Primary Care Consortium/AHEC (SPCC-AHEC).
The second center, the Georgia CHEP- AHEC, was begun in 1987 serving
39 counties in central and southeast Georgia. It is now called Magnolia
Coastlands AHEC since
1997, and is located in Statesboro, Georgia on the campus of Georgia
Southern University.
The Southwest Georgia (SOWEGA)
AHEC was established in 1990. It began under Morehouse, then continued
with Mercer University School of
Medicine (MUSM). SOWEGA AHEC serves
38
counties in southwest Georgia, with the office located in Albany,
Georgia.
The Three Rivers AHEC,
established in 1994, serves 28 counties in west central Georgia and began
under the
coordination efforts of MUSM. The office is located in Columbus, Georgia.
The Medical College of Georgia (MCG), in partnership with MUSM, received
a grant in 1996 to operate as a federally funded AHEC Program Office.
This funding has supported the development of two new centers in northwest
(Blue Ridge AHEC) and northeast (Foothills
AHEC) Georgia as well as overseeing
the maturation of the Three
Rivers AHEC.
Blue Ridge AHEC, serving twenty counties in northwest Georgia, was
established in May, 1997. The office is located in Rome, Georgia.
Foothills AHEC, serving
thirty-one counties in northeast Georgia, was established in 1999.
The office is located in Gainesville, Georgia.
The office at MCG will coordinate the statewide effort as MCG and MUSM become an integrated statewide AHEC program under the management of
MCG. MCG will coordinate and manage this diverse partnership of schools,
provider
organizations and clinical practitioners. Visit the Statewide AHEC
Network Office
The AHECs, as they come off federal funding, are supported by their
local communities and agencies, other grants and contracts, and through
state funding. The state funding is contracted with MCG and
in turn
MCG subcontracts with the AHECs. All
six AHECs will be off federal funding starting September 1, 2003.
As 501(c)3 non-profit agencies they can
receive contributions toward their mission and goals.
Morehouse School of Medicine provides support to the AHECs through
the Model AHEC grant and the Health Education and Training Center (HETC)
grant. Morehouse also works closely with the AHECs on other projects.
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