ONC Promotes Public Health IT Workforce Development, Diversity
ONC announced 10 awardees for its public health IT workforce development program in efforts to increase minority representation in the industry.
Source: ONC
By - ONC has awarded $73 million in cooperative agreements as part of its Public Health Informatics & Technology Workforce Development Program (PHIT Workforce Program) which aims to train the next generation of health IT talent to equip the nation for future public health challenges.
Funded through the American Rescue Plan and announced earlier this year, the workforce development program aims to increase representation of underrepresented communities within the public health IT industry.
"While we work to tackle the pandemic, we won't take our foot off the gas when it comes to preparing for any future public health challenges," Xavier Becerra, HHS Secretary, said in a public statement.
"Thanks to the American Rescue Plan, we can invest in growing our nation's public health workforce today to better meet the needs of tomorrow,” he continued. “As we work to expand talent, whether it's in the field of technology or public health informatics, we will do so with an eye towards promoting diversity."
The 10 awardees are made up of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs), Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), other minority-serving institutions (MSIs), and other institutions of higher education.
Each awardee will form consortia to collectively train more than 4,000 individuals over four years through an interdisciplinary approach to public health IT.
The consortia will develop curricula, recruit and train participants, secure paid internship opportunities, and assist in career placement at public health agencies or other public health-based organizations.
"We're excited to hit the ground running to develop a continuous pipeline of diverse public health information technology professionals," said Micky Tripathi, PhD, MPP, national coordinator for health information technology.
"It's critical that we quickly identify and educate individuals from diverse backgrounds in public health, informatics and data science to cultivate a robust, sustainable public health workforce,” Tripathi continued.
The PHIT Workforce Program Awardees are:
- Bowie State University, Bowie, MD
- California State University, Long Beach Research Foundation, Long Beach, CA
- Dominican College of Blauvelt, Inc, Orangeburg, NY
- Jackson State University, Jackson, MS
- Norfolk State University, Norfolk, VA
- Regents of The University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
- The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX
- University of Massachusetts at Lowell, Lowell, MA
- University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA
- University of the District of Columbia, Washington, DC
