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PORTLAND, Maine

UNE awarded federal AHEC Funding to help alleviate health care work force shortages

The University of New England has been awarded a two-year continuation grant from the federal Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to support the Maine Area Health Education Center (AHEC) Network.  

The mission of the Maine AHEC Network is to alleviate healthcare workforce shortages in Maine's rural and underserved areas, and the continuation grant will provide $297,000 per year to administer various healthcare workforce recruitment and retention initiatives.

The Maine AHEC Network is based at UNE's Center for Community and Public Health in Portland and includes three Centers located throughout the state: Western Maine AHEC at Franklin Memorial Hospital in Farmington, Eastern Maine AHEC at Penobscot Community Health Care in Bangor, and Northern Maine AHEC at Northern Maine Community College in Presque Isle.

"The Maine AHEC Network, under Mark Ruggiero's outstanding leadership, works with all UNE's health professions colleges to provide clinical training opportunities in rural and underserved areas, for students from UNE and from other institutions throughout the region.  The Maine AHEC Network has been a part of the University of New England for more than two decades,‚Äù states Timothy Ford, UNE's vice president for research and dean of the College of Graduate Studies.

In addition to HRSA funding, the Maine AHEC Network is supported by matching funds from the University of New England and the Finance Authority of Maine. 

For more information, contact Mark Ruggiero at mruggiero@une.edu or Maryfrances Smith at msmith4@une.edu.

About the University of New England

The University of New England is Maine’s largest independent university, with two beautiful coastal campuses in Maine, a one-of-a-kind study abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco, and an array of flexible, accredited online degrees. In an uncommonly welcoming and supportive community, we offer hands-on learning, empowering students to make a positive impact in a world full of challenges. The state’s top provider of health professionals, we are home to Maine’s only medical college, Maine’s only dental college, a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care degree programs, as well as nationally recognized programs for marine science degrees, natural and social sciences degrees, arts and humanities degrees, and business degrees.