Vermont Business Magazine Southern Vermont Area Health Education Center has received a $520,000 grant from the Vermont Department of Health to advance health equity in Vermont by expanding and sustaining the Community Health Worker profession as integral to the health workforce. The grant was awarded in conjunction with a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) initiative to support local efforts to address COVID-19 related health disparities and disparities that persist in lower income communities and communities of color.
This 18-month grant is the largest ever received by Southern Vermont AHEC, which said the grant funding will provide the opportunity to establish appropriate training and credentialing to create a career pipeline for expanding the community health worker (CHW) workforce into both clinical and community settings.
Focusing on communities most disproportionately impacted by adverse health outcomes, the initiative is designed to support and recognize community health workers as uniquely skilled and essential members of the public and community health workforce.
“By investing in a statewide network with strong community partnerships is a key part of strengthening this essential workforce and critical for reducing health disparities and advancing health equity in Vermont,” said Jennifer Woolard, Chronic Disease Program Specialist at Vermont Department of Health. “We are pleased to work with Southern Vermont Area Health Education Center to support training, building career paths, and strengthening a peer-to-peer network for community health workers.”
Southern Vermont AHEC has brought on Katina Cummings to manage the Community Health Workers Project, to lead this initiative across the state. Formerly the Health Workforce Program Manager for Northern Vermont AHEC, Katina brings an incredible skill set to this position, having a wide breadth of experience in organizational management, leadership, policy, and project planning in the public health, behavioral health, and social service sectors, and working to provide health equity focused interventions for those individuals living in rural and underserved areas. Katina is also active on the state’s Refugee Health Committee and serves on the Board of Directors of the Vermont Public Health Association.
“Community Health workers, as essential workers, will serve as navigators between health, social services, and the community to ensure delivery of services to improve the health and well-being of our most vulnerable populations,” said Jennifer Scott, Southern Vermont AHEC executive director. “Our team is thrilled to lead this statewide initiative on behalf of the AHEC network and with the full support of our excellent community partners. I, and our Board of Directors feel so fortunate to have attracted a superbly talented project manager to guide our efforts.”
“Katina Cummings, the newly appointed manager for the initiative, said the program will build upon Vermont’s work to expand and support an essential and credentialed workforce to integrate social care practices into health care delivery from primary prevention to the treatment of chronic illnesses. “We know that during the COVID-19 pandemic CHWs were and continue to make invaluable contributions to reducing health disparities among underserved communities. I am thrilled to advance this work with a resolute, experienced, and dynamic team of professionals, including Susan White, our director of Health Careers Preparation & Practitioner Support,” Cummings said.
For more information on the Community Health Worker project contact [email protected] or call 802.885.2126 x106.
About Southern Vermont AHEC: Southern Vermont Area Health Education Center (AHEC) is a nonprofit, educational organization committed to increasing access to primary and preventive care through workforce development, especially in our rural and underserved communities. We enhance community efforts to grow and sustain the health workforce in southern Vermont and invest our resources in connecting students to health careers, health professionals to communities, and communities to better health. Southern Vermont AHEC is one of two independent nonprofit regional AHEC centers funded by federal, state, and community support working in partnership with the University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine's Office of Primary Care and AHEC Program.
Springfield, Vt – Southern Vermont Area Health Education Center 3.16.2022
