SECAHEC serves the following Colorado counties:

Baca | Bent | Chaffee | Cheyenne | Crowley | Custer | Fremont | Huerfano | Kiowa | Lake | Las Animas | Otero | Park | Prowers | Pueblo | Teller

Phone: 719.544.7833 or 866.330.7100  Email: info@secahec.org

              

        A Brief History of Area Health Education Centers (AHECs)

Text Box: The 1970 Carnegie Commission report, Higher Education and the Nation’s Health: Policies for Medical and Dental Education, recommended the establishment of AHECs to address the maldistribution of health professionals, especially the shortage of primary care physicians. Acting on that report and others, Congress established the AHEC program in 1972 as part of a three-pronged strategy to address the needs of the medically underserved: 1) the creation of a series of ‘safety net’ clinics, the Community Health Centers (CHCs) and Migrant Health Centers (MHCs); 2) the establishment of the National Health Service Corps (NHSC); and 3) the development of the Area Health Education Center (AHEC) program. It was a comprehensive approach recognizing that in order for services to be provided to target populations, they would need facilities in which to operate (CHCs/MHCs) as well as a supply of clinicians (NHSC) who had been trained to meet the distinctive needs of these clients (AHECs). Later on, the Health Education and Training Centers (HETC) program was formed to address severe, persistent unmet healthcare needs of special populations For the past thirty years, AHECs/HETCs have engaged in a wide-variety of activities directed at all points along the pathway of health professions education—beginning with the K-12 years, continuing through pre-professional and professional academic programs and on to continuing education and support services for practitioners. In addition to these ‘core’ functions, AHECs/HETCs have also expanded their missions to creatively focus on individual communities’ needs. However, health workforce shortages are critically high again and AHECs/HETCs are rethinking goals and methods.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Southeastern Colorado Area Health Education Center (SECAHEC) is a non-profit 501(c) 3 organization, and an affiliate of the University of Colorado's Health Science Center. 

SECAHEC serves a 16-County region encompassing 26,500 square miles.  SECAHEC has a strong rural focus and works to support and enhance the healthcare systems and professionals in rural central and southeastern Colorado.

© 2006-2007 Southeastern Colorado AHEC || 503 N Main, Suite 422 || Pueblo, CO 81003 || Tele.: 719.544.7833 || Fax: 719.544.7955 || Toll Free: 1.866.330.7100 || email info@secahec.org