Page 47 - Healthcare News August 2021

HEALTHCARE EDUCATION CONT’D
PURCH
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from community professionals on the front lines of addressing health inequity.”
Change Agents
A key concept of the PURCH program is the idea of ‘leaders who can be led.’
“A doctor’s instinct is to try to fix things
Bay Path
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witnessing its continued success.”
The HRSA grant will better prepare Bay
Path’s physician assistant (PA) graduates to assess, treat, or appropriately refer for treat- ment patients who struggle with opioid and substance use and/or mental-health issues, and provide interprofessional development around these critical issues that will engage healthcare trainees and providers in the broader community.
because that’s what we do,” Hinchey said. “We may be leaders in healthcare, but the community professionals are much more knowledgeable about homelessness and food insecurity. They need us to be part of their team and follow their lead.”
That idea can play out in impactful ways, such as a doctor who tells a patient that homelessness is bad for them, when the patient may have ignored others who said the same thing. It can also have an impact in setting public policy. Whitehouse looks forward to doctors asserting their voices to
Massachusetts is among the top 10 states for opioid-related deaths. Primary-care provider shortages, especially in medically underserved areas, have had a profound impact on access to treatment. With more than half (54%) of Bay Path’s PA graduates remaining in Massachusetts to live and work, many of them in medically under- served areas, the project has enormous potential to address critical community needs.
According to Dr. Mark Benander, direc- tor of graduate psychology, “funding from the BHWET program will help us to attract
impact decisions like where a grocery store is located, which can affect health outcomes in a community.
“If we’re going to try to change the col- lective hypertension rates in a city, people need access to a grocery store with fresh produce, or nothing will change,” White- house said. “Those macro policies affect the micro interactions that occur in the four walls of a clinic and puts the onus on us physicians to get more involved in policy.”
With Noone, Conrad, and Whitehouse all working residencies at Baystate, Hinchey
and retain a well-qualified workforce to meet the region’s needs, specifically in the field of mental-health counseling. It will allow us to expand internship opportuni- ties for our students in partnership with local community health centers, like Caring Health Center and Behavioral Health Network. And we will also be developing a new, four-course certificate in Integrated Behavioral Health in the Primary Care Setting, aimed at the professional develop- ment of both our own students, as well as clinicians in the field.”
The grants come at a period when
looks forward to picking their brains and keeping in touch with others in the inaugu- ral class.
“We have a good foundation for the program, and it will continue to grow and evolve,” Hinchey said, adding that the potential for the program is what excites him most about PURCH. “It can change the way we deliver healthcare.” v
society and the healthcare sector are facing a shortage of qualified healthcare practitio- ners and mental-health counselors, a need that has been amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“These two grants deal with two fun- damental issues in our region: primary healthcare and mental health,” Doran said. “Our Bay Path healthcare programs are leading the way in developing healthcare leaders, while improving the healthcare outcomes for our communities.” v
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