ATSU receives $5.86 million in HRSA grants

Funds keep University programs and technology on cutting edge to benefit communities

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) granted A.T. Still University (ATSU) eight awards totaling more than $5.86 million. These gifts will greatly benefit the Kirksville, Mo., and Mesa, Ariz., communities, and beyond. In all, ATSU was awarded more than 60 percent of HRSA’s Federal Health Professions grant funding in Missouri and more than 75 percent of all grants in Arizona.

“These significant grants will allow ATSU to better serve our communities and to carry out our mission to serve rural areas and underserved populations in Arizona and Missouri,” said ATSU President Jack Magruder. All grant funds are dedicated to specific areas and cannot be used for anything else.

Three of the eight grants are for five-year projects. A $1.75 million award will establish a department of family and community medicine at ATSU’s School of Osteopathic Medicine in Arizona (SOMA), located in Mesa, for the purpose of training community health centers (CHCs) to meet the needs of vulnerable populations.

ATSU’s Arizona School of Dentistry & Oral Health (ASDOH), also located in Mesa, and the School of Health Management (SHM), headquartered in Kirksville, Mo., received $1.5 million for a workforce development initiative to produce oral health leaders for community health centers and public health settings.

A grant of $1.11 million was awarded to the ATSU’s Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine (KCOM) to intensify instruction and assessment in health literacy, public health, and electronic medical records, emphasizing the medical home model of care.

The five remaining grants were received through the HRSA’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). Each ARRA grant is worth $300,000 and that $1.5 million is allocated for the acquisition and use of teaching resources and classroom technology, including simulated patients, defibrillators, and a video communications system. These grants were awarded to ATSU’s Arizona School of Health Sciences (ASHS), SOMA, and KCOM.

Douglas Wood, D.O., Ph.D., ATSU Senior Vice President – Academic Affairs, said that “the funding from these awards will first and foremost benefit the patients and the healthcare professionals in primary care, public health, and underserved locations. These new resources will help ATSU to concentrate on sound and innovative education and compassionate practice.”

HRSA is an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and is the primary federal agency for improving healthcare service for the underserved. HRSA provides leadership and financial support to healthcare providers, healthcare professionals, and is committed to improving the healthcare system in rural communities.