RD29 - Statewide Area Health Education Centers Program


Executive Summary:
The 2002 Virginia Acts of Assembly, Chapter 899, Item 306 B. 5 requires the Virginia Department of Health to assess the activities of the Statewide AHEC Program and the need for continued state funding for the statewide office and the Centers for the Advancement of Generalist Medicine at the University of Virginia and the Medical College of Virginia.

This study is limited to an assessment of the activities of the Statewide AHEC Program as well as the need for continuing state funding for the statewide office. It provides an exhaustive history of the federal AHEC program as well as the Commonwealth's current program. The study describes each of the individual community AHECs and their programs. The programs are assessed relative to the Code of Virginia program requirements found at section 32.1-122.7. The Virginia AHEC program's historical and present funding is detailed within the report. A comprehensive review of earlier evaluations of both the federal and state AHEC programs in included. Based upon the aforementioned, an assessment of the need for continued funding for the statewide office is made. It finishes with a summary of conclusions and recommendations.

The study recommends that the Virginia General Assembly should continue to fund the AHEC program for the next year yet introduce language into the Code of Virginia requiring the AHEC program to submit a detailed programmatic annual report. This report should include, but not be limited to a program needs assessment, a summary of the federal AHEC program peer review evaluation and any other Virginia AHEC program evaluation prepared by the federal government, a description of how the Virginia AHEC program compares to the programs of neighboring states, and a summary of the Virginia statewide AHEC program's ability to secure grant funds. The final recommendation is that the Code of Virginia be amended to allow for community AHECs to exercise creative programmatic approaches to address the issue of health care access.

The 2002 budget included a reduction in AHEC funding from $1,158,139 to $1,058,139 in fiscal year '03 and $950,000 in fiscal year '04 and, as mentioned above, a directive to the Virginia Department of Health to study the need for continued state funding.