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Portland, Maine

Maine AHEC receives HRSA mini-grant to strengthen maternal care career pathways in Maine

An aerial view of the Portland Campus
The grant will partner Maine AHEC with the Maternal Health Learning and Innovation Center to bolster the maternal health care workforce in Maine.

The Maine Area Health Education Center (AHEC), housed within the UNE Center for Excellence in Public Health (CEPH), was one of four AHECs nationwide selected for a mini-grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to work to strengthen career pathways and promote expansion and diversification of maternal health care within Maine.

Maine AHEC was awarded at the end of April and the contract was finalized May 12. The grant will partner Maine AHEC with the Maternal Health Learning and Innovation Center (MHLIC) — a multidisciplinary team of capacity-building, maternal health experts from around the country with a central hub at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill — to bolster the maternal health care workforce in Maine.

With this award, Maine AHEC will produce and host an event this fall incorporating students, interprofessional members of the maternal health community, and key partners to address this important need within Maine’s healthcare system. Following the event, Maine AHEC will collaborate with the awardee task force to develop a toolkit for best practices and to disseminate lessons learned.

“We are excited to build upon previous work and our commitment to building capacity and a strong future for Maine’s maternal health,” remarked Kate Norgang, clinical educator for Interprofessional Practice.

About the University of New England

The University of New England is Maine’s largest private 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.