AHEC is a state and nationwide network of programs that strives to improve health through the recruitment, training, and retention of a competent healthcare workforce. Indiana has nine regional "centers" that are coordinated through a central office. Each regional center is designed to assess and meet the needs of their local communities. The West Central Indiana Area Health Education Center was the first operational AHEC in the state.
Statewide Reach
The Indiana AHEC Program Office is located within the Department of Family Medicine at the Indiana University School of Medicine. There are nine independent regional offices that work to serve the Hoosiers living in their designated counties.
Mission
The mission of the Indiana AHEC Network is to improve health by recruiting, educating, and retaining health care professionals in underserved communities.
Goals
Pathway programs expose students to health careers and develop intent to pursue postsecondary education in healthcare professions.
Clinical training improves readiness, willingness, and ability of Indiana-based health profession trainees to serve in primary care, rural, and medically underserved communities.
Indiana AHEC Scholars is a two-year intensive program designed to prepare future health professionals with the leadership skills necessary to better serve in rural and underserved communities.
Continuing education provides health professionals with access to resources to improve the quality of care for Hoosiers in rural and underserved communities.
East Central Indiana Area Health Education Center includes the 10 counties of Adams, Blackford, Delaware, Grant, Huntington, Jay, Madison, Randolph, Wabash, and Wells.
The East Indiana Area Health Education Center includes the 14 counties of Bartholomew, Dearborn, Decatur, Fayette, Franklin, Henry, Jefferson, Jennings, Ohio, Ripley, Rush, Union, Wayne and Switzerland.
The Metropolitan Indianapolis Central Indiana Area Health Education Center includes the 8 counties of Boone, Hamilton, Hancock, Hendricks, Johnson, Marion, Morgan, and Shelby.
The North Central Indiana Area Health Education Center includes the 11 counties of Benton, Carroll, Cass, Clinton, Fulton, Howard, Miami, Pulaski, Tippecanoe, Tipton, and White.
Northeast Indiana (NEI) AHEC includes the 8 counties of Allen, DeKalb, Elkhart, Kosciusko, LaGrange, Noble, Steuben, and Whitley counties.
The Northwest Indiana Area Education Center includes the 8 counties of Jasper, Lake, LaPorte, Marshall, Newton, Porter, St. Joseph, and Starke.
The South Central Indiana Area Health Education Center includes the 12 counties of Brown, Clark, Crawford, Floyd, Harrison, Jackson, Lawrence, Martin, Monroe, Orange, Scott, and Washington.
Our newest AHEC, the Southwest Indiana Area Health Education Center, includes the 10 counties of Daviess, Dubois, Gibson, Knox, Perry, Pike, Posey, Spencer, Vanderburgh, and Warrick.
The West Central Indiana Area Health Education Center includes the 11 counties of Clay, Fountain, Greene, Montgomery, Owen, Parke, Putnam, Sullivan, Vermillion, Vigo, and Warren.
The Need
Demographic
The population of WCI-AHEC’s region is older and less educated, with higher unemployment and lower incomes than the rest of Indiana. Elevated percentages of both Medicaid and Medicare dependents are also prevalent.
Education
The population of WCI is less educated and while high school graduation rates in most West Central counties are in line with the state median, fewer residents have any post-secondary education.
Health
Residents in ten out of the eleven counties in the West Central Indiana region report being less physically and mentally healthy than the state average.
The teen birth rate is above the state median in eight of the eleven counties, and the percent of mothers who smoked during pregnancy is significantly higher in the entire region. In addition to those major health concerns is the fact that ten of the eleven counties have a higher rate of preventable hospitalizations among their Medicare population, which is especially significant in light of the high proportion of Medicare beneficiaries.
Healthcare Workforce
Primary care and mental health providers in the WCI region have larger patient loads than the state median in all counties except Vigo, which is the largest. Dental providers see more patients than the state median in all 11 counties. Additionally, the West Central Indiana region experiences under-representation of Blacks and Hispanic/Latinos in much of the health care workforce compared with the general population.