St. Kate鈥檚 awarded $1.5 million from U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration

亚色影库 has announced it was awarded $1.5 million from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration's Public Health Scholarship Program, congratulating Meghan Mason, PhD, director of the BA/BS public health program, on her successful grant submission. St. Kate's is one of only 29 institutions nationwide to receive funding through the program.

This three-year grant enables St. Kate's to offer $1.3 million in scholarships to students enrolled in the Community Health Worker certificate program and the BA/BS Public Health - Community Health Worker concentration program.

The Community Health Worker Emergency Response and Preparedness (CHW-ERP) Project will strengthen and diversify the public health workforce to better meet the needs of underserved communities in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area by:

  • engaging community/employer partners to build Community Health Worker certificate and baccalaureate program recruitment, training, and job placement pipelines'
  • educating trainees to address social determinants of health in culturally and linguistically appropriate and accessible ways
  • preparing trainees to respond to COVID-19 and other public health emergencies through curriculum, practicum, and simulation experiences.

鈥淎s trusted members of their respective communities, Community Health Workers (CHWs) are navigators, advocates, educators, and coordinators for those underserved by our healthcare systems," Mason said. "In expanding access to CHW training, we are helping our community partners strengthen and diversify the public health workforce to advance health equity.鈥

鈥淭his federal grant significantly increases our capacity to educate the next generation of community health workers,鈥 said Sean Fitzpatrick, PhD, interim dean of the Henrietta Schmoll School of Health Sciences. 鈥淭he work that Dr. Mason and her colleagues put into preparing and securing this grant exemplifies the values of our faculty and institution. Helping to ensure our communities鈥 ability to respond to emergencies is another example of St. Kate鈥檚 living out its commitment to meeting the needs of the time.鈥

Scholarship candidates may reach out to Meghan Mason, PhD, director of the BA/BS public health program, at mrmason@stkate.edu with questions or interest.