Area Health Education Centers Program

About Virginia Area Health Education Centers (AHEC)

The Virginia Health Workforce Development Authority (VHWDA) utilizes a multi-stakeholder collaborative model to identify, recruit and retain highly qualified health professionals to successfully create and improve a competitive health workforce throughout the Commonwealth. The core work of the VHWDA is centered around community partnerships to develop a strong workforce pipeline at a younger age; increase community-based training opportunities and interprofessional collaboration; provide funding and support for health career education, advancement, pipeline development and job placement; and identify and communicate regional health workforce shortages and needs with key stakeholders and legislators.

To accomplish this, the VHWDA works in partnership with the Virginia Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) Program and its regional centers statewide. Since 1991, the Virginia AHEC centers have been instrumental in developing effective programs to address specific health care needs of their communities. This includes implementing health careers recruitment programs; identifying health workforce distribution issues; sponsoring continuing education programs; identifying career opportunities for students, displaced or unemployed adults; providing interpreter training services; and connecting students with internships and preceptorships. Through community-based interprofessional training programs, AHECs identify, motivate, recruit, train and retain a health care workforce committed to underserved populations.

Captial AHEC Center Host Site Request for Proposals

The Virginia Health Workforce Development seeks organizations to fill the role of Capital Region Area Health Education Center host site. Applicants must articulate their capacity to carry out the following activities outlined in the approved Virginia AHEC workplan:

• Sponsor youth pipeline activities that support recruitment, training, interactive and/or didactic activities for 100 high school youth in grades 9-12 and/or pre-major college students that focus on exposure to health careers, including public health, with priority given to recruiting rural and URMs
• Implement a longitudinal interdisciplinary AHEC Scholars Program with 40 hours of didactic and 40 hours of community-based clinical training focused on the eight CORE Topics for 30 health professions students annually, with priority given to rural and under reported minorities (URM)
• Implement community-based experiential training of 125 health professions students annually that incorporates clinical training focused on the CORE Topics with rural and/or medically underserved communities or populations
• Implement clinical simulation training for health professions students that helps meet program and/or licensure requirements for 130 students annually
• Implement clinical simulation training for health professions students that helps meet program and/or licensure requirements for 25 students annually
• Provide CE programs related to CORE Topics for 125 practicing health professionals, CHWs, and paraprofessionals annually with emphasis on current and emergent health issues, enhancing health equity and reducing health disparities behavioral health integration addressing clinician burnout and improving provider resiliency, and virtual learning modalities/ telehealth and telemedicine
• Develop programs and train 10 CHWs and paraprofessionals annually to connect communities and support health professionals

To read the full RFP, including instructions on how to apply, please click here.

Any questions concerning the application requirements should be directed to:

Name: Amy Taloma
Address: 7818 E. Parham Rd., Richmond, VA 23294
Phone: 804-562-4928
FAX: 804-658-4193
Email: ataloma@vhwda.org

Schedule of Events

1. RFP Distribution to Applicants – May 1. 2023
2. RFP Due Date – Friday, May 19, 2023
3. Review of Proposals – May 22 – 25, 2023
4. Presentations by Final Candidate Communities and Site Visits – Week of May 29,2023
5. Anticipated decision and selection of AHEC Center – On/Before June 9, 2023