[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 55 (Tuesday, March 29, 2022)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E316]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





  IN RECOGNITION OF NATIONAL AREA HEALTH EDUCATION CENTER (AHEC) WEEK 
                                  2022

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. KATHY CASTOR

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, March 29, 2022

  Ms. CASTOR of Florida. Madam Speaker, I rise today to acknowledge the 
contributions of the nation's Area Health Education Centers (AHECs) and 
applaud the vitally important health care workforce programs they 
conduct to improve access to care for medically underserved 
individuals, particularly in the Tampa Bay area.
  AHECs, established by Congress in 1971 as one of the Title VII Health 
Professions Training programs, are the workforce development, training 
and education machine for the nation's health care safety net programs. 
Over the past 5 years, the AHEC program has trained 2 million health 
care professionals who are prepared to deliver culturally appropriate, 
high-quality, team-based care, with an emphasis on primary care for 
rural and underserved populations.
  The nation's 300 AHECs are in nearly every state and in multiple U.S. 
territories, offering hands-on and innovative health career curriculums 
for pre-college level students. They are committed to continuing 
education, clinical training of health professionals, and responding to 
community health needs. This is accomplished by forming academic and 
community partnerships that link the resources of academic health 
centers with the needs of the communities.
  AHEC clinical training placements put health professions students in 
a variety of real-world settings, such as migrant, urban, and rural 
community health clinics and health departments that provide care to 
rural and underserved communities. Connecting students to their 
communities helps facilitate future engagement, encouraging health 
career students to remain in their clinical practice regions following 
their training. As the nation's population becomes more diverse, it is 
important that the health care workforce follows suit.
  I have long supported the work of AHECs and particularly that of the 
University of South Florida AHEC program. Established in 1993, USF AHEC 
and its centers provide youth from diverse backgrounds with programs to 
inspire and support their interest in health careers through programs 
such as the Brain Expansion Scholastic Training (BEST), Recruitment and 
Education Assistance for Careers in Health (REACH), and AHEC Scholars. 
Students interested in medicine, nursing, dentistry, public health, 
pharmacy, and other disciplines are exposed to local free clinics in 
the Tampa Bay area--clinical training opportunities that illustrate the 
real-world impacts that poverty, racism, and inadequate access to 
health care have on the lives of their patients and families.
  As part of a statewide system of 15 federally and state supported 
AHEC program offices and centers serving all of Florida's 67 counties, 
USF AHEC and its partners across the state have leveraged their 
statewide infrastructure to create numerous programs to benefit the 
residents of Florida. Since 2008, Florida's AHEC network has conducted 
a $10 million annual comprehensive tobacco education program and group 
cessation counseling initiative; worked with the state's Opioid 
Response Program to provide over $1 million in education and training 
on opioids for health care providers, students, and community health 
workers; and partnered with the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention to deliver HPV vaccine education and training programs.
  Congress has tasked AHECs with an extraordinarily important mission, 
and the need to strengthen the health care workforce in our country 
continues to grow. According to a new report by the Association of 
American Medical Colleges, the U.S. could see a shortage of up to 
124,000 physicians by 2034, and the American Hospital Association says 
more than 200,000 new registered nurses are needed each year to meet 
increasing health care needs and to replace nurses entering retirement. 
AHECs continue to be committed to addressing shortage areas and 
expanding the health care workforce, while maximizing diversity and 
facilitating distribution, especially in rural and underserved 
communities.
  On behalf of my constituents at the USF Area Health Education Center 
and the AHEC program more broadly, I call on my colleagues to join me 
in recognizing March 28th to April 1st, 2022 as National AHEC (Area 
Health Education Centers) Week.

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