High Sierra AHEC receives $1 million CDC contract

High Sierra AHEC receives $1 million CDC contract

The High Sierra AHEC has been awarded a $1 million contract with the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services to bolster public health workforce initiatives.

“These funds will afford us the ability to expand our health care workforce department and Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI)/Cultural Competency initiatives,” said Andrea Gregg, Executive Director of the High Sierra AHEC.”

The funds originated with the Federal American Rescue Plan enacted in March to address the impact of the pandemic and is being administered through the Centers for Disease Control.

The High Sierra team plans to add five full-time employees: a workforce development director, student services coordinator, two health education coordinators, and diversity coordinator.  Gregg has also created three new positions -- workforce planning manager, diversity advisor, and an operations manager position – filled via internal staff promotions.

The funding will allow High Sierra to expand its health careers programming.  New projects will include the development and implementation of a community health worker (CMW) apprenticeship program offering Level I CHW certification to high school seniors prior to graduation, placing them with employers for paid work-based learning and training to then become level II certified and eventually offered employment. After a year of implementation, the aim is to expand into a similar model for medical assistants. 

In addition, the AHEC’s pipeline programs will be enhanced to include public health curriculum, addressing population recovery and resilience needs to respond effectively to the COVDI-19 pandemic. The support will provide students and school sites with public health-related resources and appropriate linkages to their community-based organizations to overcome gaps and barriers as a result of COVID-19.  

The diversity coordinator will provide health and community organizations with education and training focused on diversity, healthy equity, and cultural competency to support a diverse workforce that is representative of the populations they serve and to improve the treatment and care of these patient populations. 

“We will also have the opportunity to enhance our training capacity, providing a required cultural competency training to licensed medical facilities across the state,” Gregg said.

The funds will also support the hiring of three part-time paid internship positions that will be outsourced to provide support to partnering agencies, schools, FQHCs, and community centers.  The High Sierra AHEC will work with partner agencies to craft a custom scope of work, solicit and place the qualified candidate, serve as a support partner to the designated preceptor site, and provide the opportunity to increase staffing capacity at designations with limited resources. 

“We are so pleased to have had the kind of relationship with our state partners that they are placing their trust in us to do this important work,” Gregg said. “The initiative truly is the perfect match to the AHEC mission and intersects nicely with our established programs.”