Pacific’s Oregon Healthcare Workforce Institute (OHWI) Receives Grant to Engage Future Health Professionals

Pacific University’s Oregon Healthcare Workforce Institute (OHWI) has been awarded a $12,000 grant from Worksystems, Inc, a local workforce investment board.

The grant will go toward an upcoming four-day healthcare career exploration program, which targets underserved high school  sophomores and juniors from Hillsboro High School. The SYNAPSE program, scheduled for June 19-22, on Pacific’s Hillsboro Campus will feature experiential health science activities, team medical innovation, healthcare job shadows, a service learning project, and presentations from Pacific’s faculty. 

OHWI’s Martha Robertson, Area Health Education Center (AHEC) program coordinator  and Chad Johnson, MPH, AHEC Regional Center director, helped secure the grant.

“Congratulations to Martha and Chad for their successful funding efforts to support this important opportunity to engage Oregon’s future health professionals,” said Jo Isgrigg, director, of Pacific's Office of Scholarship & Sponsored Projects.

OHWI AHEC works to support the recruitment, retention, and training of a diverse health care professional workforce, especially for professionals providing primary care services within Oregon's rural and urban underserved communities.

In addition to the Worksystems grant, the SYNAPSE program also received sponsorship donations from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration, CareOregon and the Oregon Assoc. of Hospitals & Health Systems (OAHHS).