For 25 years, the Nebraska Area Health Education Center program has worked to answer a persistent question in rural communities across the state: How do you recruit, train and keep health care providers where they’re needed most?
This year, Nebraska AHEC marks its 25th anniversary, celebrating a legacy that traces back further than the program’s official 2001 launch. Its roots reach to 1991, when the Nebraska Legislature and UNMC established the Rural Health Education Network to expand educational opportunities for health professions students. That early work laid the groundwork for a bigger idea.
Read the 2026 AHEC Impact Report.
“In discussions with colleagues in other states, the Area Health Education Center model was frequently identified as an effective approach to addressing rural health education needs,” said Roxanna Jokela, former Rural Health Education Network director and Nebraska AHEC assistant director. “As a result, we began pursuing funding and working with rural communities to explore how this model could be implemented.”
That pursuit paid off in 2001, when UNMC received its first funding from the Health Resources and Services Administration to establish Nebraska’s first AHEC centers. All five regional centers were up and running within four years. Since then, the program has drawn more than $14 million in Health Resources and Services Administration funding and engaged more than 31,700 students and professionals statewide.
Along the way, Nebraska AHEC partnered with the Rural Health Education Network to create the Careers in Healthcare Book and support regional science meets, while helping launch programs like Student/Resident Experiences and Rotation in Community Health.
“The strength of the Nebraska AHEC Program lies in its commitment to rural Nebraska,” said Michael Sitorius, MD, former director and principal investigator of the Nebraska AHEC program. “AHEC has improved and expanded health education — helping communities strengthen their local health workforce recruitment.”
Between 2012 and 2022, the program shifted toward statewide standardization — building a shared database, unifying its branding across regional centers and launching the Nebraska AHEC Scholars Program to deepen its focus on students in health professions training. The program also produced Nebraska’s first Status of the Healthcare Workforce report in collaboration with UNMC.
“Looking back to 2016, it was a defining and pivotal time for Nebraska AHEC,” said Nikki Carritt, former Nebraska AHEC deputy director. “Strengthening Nebraska’s healthcare workforce begins with investing in people and communities. Nebraska AHEC continues to play a critical role in building pathways, supporting providers and ensuring that high-quality care is accessible in every corner of our state.”
Today, the program has graduated 251 AHEC scholars and continues to grow. Looking ahead, Nebraska AHEC leaders plan to expand career pathway programming, extend continuing education using technology and deepen partnerships to meet the state’s evolving rural health needs.
“Nebraska AHEC has built a solid foundation of partnerships, collaborations and successful outcomes over the past 25 years,” said Jeffrey Harrison, MD, current director and principal investigator of the Nebraska AHEC program, as well as chair of the UNMC Department of Family Medicine. “The need to create innovative and sustainable recruitment, training and retention models necessitate continued efforts to expand our partnerships to meet the healthcare needs of the state.”
As Nebraska AHEC looks to its next 25 years, its mission remains unchanged: building a stronger, more sustainable health care workforce for every corner of the state.
Congratulations on these remarkable accomplishments.
AHEC has been such a wonderful resource across the state. I have valued these partnerships so much! Congratulations!