Northern Kentucky University announced last week that it had received a grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration to increase the number of health workers in rural and underserved areas in northern Kentucky.
The $2.9 million three-year grant will support NKU’s innovative efforts to expand its Human Services and Addiction program, aiming to reduce health disparities in underserved communities.
“Seven out of the eight counties in northern Kentucky contain underserved areas, and their health-related metrics are substantially below national averages,” said Valerie Hardcastle, executive director of NKU’s Institute for Health Innovation and the principal investigator on the grant. “Training and hiring health support workers who can work as members in multidisciplinary health care teams are a cost-effective and efficient healthcare solution for under-resourced regions.”
Among the positions supported by the grant are a full-time project director, a coordinator for a telehealth/telemedicine clinical site for training new health professionals, a non-tenure-track renewable faculty member, and summer pay for five faculty members to work on the project.
Most importantly, the grant will help reduce financial barriers for trainees through scholarship and stipend support, as well as provide scholarships for required continuing education credits at NKU for regional behavioral healthcare workers.
For more information on the NKU Institute of Health Innovation, visit its website.
