Members of the Western Region Public Health Training Center (WRPHTC) gathered in September at the University of Arizona Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health in Tucson for their annual executive meeting.
The WRPHTC provides free in-person and online training to current and future public health professionals in Arizona, California, Nevada, Hawaii and U.S. Associated Pacific Islands, also known as Region 9 of the Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA). In addition, the center provides expertise on nutrition, physical activity and obesity to the national network of Public Health Training Centers.
The WRPHTC reports 43,151 people registered for courses in FY2017. At the meeting in Tucson, partners discussed ideas for creating new training programs and services to support accreditation efforts by health departments.
“It is clear to me that we have an amazing partnership for training health professionals in HRSA Region 9 by creating a range of cost-effective and innovative education programs,” said Doug Taren, PhD, associate dean of academic affairs at the UA Zuckerman College of Public Health and project director for the Western Region Public Health Training Center.
“The contributions by each local performance site has also provided a way to ensure that programs meet our national goals and at the same time are appropriate for each location where trainings take place," added Dr. Taren.
The WRPHTC is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Affordable Care Act. Visit the website at: www.wrphtc.arizona.edu
Photo: Front row, from left; Valerie Yontz (University of Hawaii, Manoa); Kelly Morning (University of Nevada, Reno); Doug Taren (UA College of Public Health); Greg Dever (Pacific Island Health Officers Association); Lubna Govindarajan (UA College of Public Health); Trudy Larson (University of Nevada, Reno); and Abby Stoica and Allison Root (UA College of Public Health). Back row; Gerold Dermid (University of Nevada, Reno); Ivan Gomez (University of California, San Francisco, California Area Health Education Center Program); Brenda Mitchell (University of California, San Francisco, California Area Health Education Center Program); Erich Healy and Jim Cunningham (UA College of Public Health).
