Return to Main Menu

Grant to benefit minorities in health carey The trustees of The Duke Endowment awarded the South Carolina Area Health Education Consortium (S.C. AHEC) $113,636 in funding to increase minority representation in the state’s health care work force.   The award is one of 427 grants totaling more than $39.5 million that the trustees approved at their June meeting for organizations in North Carolina and South Carolina.   Improving workforce diversity to serve the poor and underserved populations is a core service of the S.C. AHEC and is known as the Student Development and Diversity Program (SDDP). The SDDP addresses the need to increase the number of underrepresented minority health care professionals and consists of three areas:  health career exploration and academic preparation, undergraduate outreach, and summer employment and enrichment programs.    With the support and partnership from The Duke Endowment, the S.C. AHEC will launch a statewide diversity initiative designed to establish coalitions to identify, mentor, and support minority students interested in health care careers. To accomplish this goal, the S.C. AHEC will work closely with the state’s educational and health care delivery systems, faith-based health programs in churches, and other community organizations such as county health professional associations, Health Occupation Student Association, Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts through the establishment of regional coalitions. Volunteer members of church congregations, health care professionals, teachers and counselors in schools, and others will be invited to become active participants in these coalitions.   “The S.C. AHEC is extremely pleased to have received this award from the Duke Endowment,” said David Garr, M.D., S.C. AHEC executive director. “This grant will permit us to work with the endowment and partners throughout the state who share the common goal of increasing the diversity of our health care workforce.”    The S.C. AHEC exists to help improve the health of South Carolina’s citizens.   Established in 1972, S.C. AHEC is the only organization in South Carolina that addresses health care workforce needs starting at the level of primary and secondary school education and extending to practicing health care professionals throughout the state. The success of the S.C. AHEC is due to the partnerships that were built with South Carolina’s colleges, universities, teaching hospitals and communities.   “Working with young people through these regional coalitions, we look forward to developing a successful program that will serve South Carolina’s citizens for years to come,” Garr said.    The Duke Endowment grants include $20.4 million for not-for-profit hospitals and other health care organizations, and $11.1 million for private institutions of higher education. The grants also provide almost $4.3 million for not-for-profit children’s homes and other programs that support adoption or the prevention of child abuse and neglect, and $3.1 million for building and operating rural United Methodist churches.   “We are pleased that this year we are able to provide more funds than we typically award in our June grant cycle,” said Eugene W. Cochrane Jr., endowment president. “But what is more important and more impressive is the large number of high-quality projects that involve community outreach. To us, that is a powerful indicator of the willingness of our schools, hospitals, children’s homes and churches to play significant roles in the life of their home communities across the Carolinas.”   For additional information about The Duke Endowment grant awards, contact David Roberson, director of Communications, at (704) 376-0291. A complete list of the Endowment’s June grants is available at http://www.dukeendowment.org/2005.cfm.   Additional information about the S.C. AHEC Student Development and Diversity Program can be found at http://www.scahec.net.     Friday, June 24, 2005 Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107 or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to Catalyst Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to petersnd@musc.edu or catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Community Press at 849-1778.