Southwest Indiana AHEC presents award to Ivy Tech - Southwest

Southwest Indiana Area Health Education Center (AHEC) recently presented Ivy Tech Community College Southwest in Evansville, Indiana, with the 2016 Partnership Matters Award during the Indiana AHEC statewide meeting in Indianapolis.

"With good collaboration across the institutions for higher education in our 10-county region, Ivy Tech Community College Southwest stands out in its willingness to work with AHEC to ensure qualified health professionals in southern Indiana," said Jane Friona, executive director of Southwest Indiana AHEC, when presenting the award to Cindy Moore, dean of the Frank L. Hilton M.D. School of Health Sciences at Ivy Tech Southwest. "The leadership and faculty at Ivy Tech are committed to helping people learn and improve the region. When barriers to effective learning have presented themselves, the staff look for ways to overcome the obstacles and reach out to promote collaboration and expand partnerships." 

In addition to being an active member of the SWI-AHEC advisory council, Friona said that Ivy Tech assists with youth programming, including faculty presentations, field trips, visits to schools for career days and engaging health care simulations. "SWI-AHEC youth participating in field trips to Ivy Tech's Evansville campus are always impressed with, and excited about, the engaging activities in EMS, medical assisting, surgical technology, nursing, and other fields," said Friona. "Faculty members are very giving of their time to create opportunities for youth to experience what is available at Ivy Tech."

Friona said that in recent years, Ivy Tech has enhanced course offerings in rural counties, particularly anatomy & physiology, to allow for the availability of health career programs at their campuses in Princeton and Tell City, Indiana. She also recognized Ivy Tech for its commitment to interprofessional education among disciplines offering care and services to veterans in a transitional housing setting.

"Southwest Indiana AHEC values the involvement of Ivy Tech Community College Southwest in our successes and look forward to ongoing collaboration," said Friona.

Annually, regional AHEC offices in Indiana choose recipients of the "Partnership Matters" awards to recognize organizations and programs that demonstrate a motivation to work collaboratively to transcend boundaries and leverage resources effectively to build the pipeline of the next generation of Hoosier health professionals.

Southwest Indiana Area Health Education Center began as a regional center in 2008, and it is hosted by the University of Southern Indiana in the College of Nursing and Health Professions. Southwest Indiana AHEC is part of a national network with a mission to improve health by leading the nation in the recruitment, training and retention of a diverse health workforce for underserved communities.