Robyn Henderson was recently named the executive director of the new Southeast Nebraska Area Health Education Center (SE-AHEC). Henderson previously served as assistant director of the Rural Health Education Network and program director for the Nebraska SEARCH program at UNMC.
The new SE-AHEC, which opened in April, will serve 17 counties in Southeast Nebraska including: Butler, Saunders, Sarpy, York, Seward, Lancaster, Cass, Otoe, Fillmore, Saline, Thayer, Jefferson, Gage, Johnson, Pawnee, Nemaha and Richardson.
Henderson has a master’s degree from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, and a bachelor’s degree from Nebraska Wesleyan University in Lincoln. She spent 15 years in Washington, D.C, first as a legislative assistant to former U.S. Senator James Exon and then for a variety of non-profit associations doing policy analysis and coalition development work. Henderson also worked for the National Rural Health Association in Kansas City, where she served as vice president for program services.
The AHEC program was introduced in Nebraska in 2001 and is part of UNMC’s Rural Health Education Network under which UNMC rural outreach education activities are developed. AHECs are multi-institutional, multi-disciplinary, community-based programs that work with community and academic partners to address the primary health care work force needs and health promotion and disease prevention information needs of medically underserved communities.
With the creation of the SE-AHEC all 93 counties in Nebraska are now being served by an AHEC. The Central Nebraska AHEC center in Grand Island serves 35 counties and was the first AHEC to form in 2001. It was followed by the formation in 2002 of the Northern Nebraska AHEC center in Norfolk, which serves 26 counties, and the Panhandle AHEC in 2004. The Panhandle AHEC serves 14 counties and is based in Scottsbluff.
While each AHEC sets its own focus priorities, the primary role of AHECs is the recruitment and retention of health professionals to underserved areas, including a focus on minority recruitment.
AHEC activities include working with local schools (grades K-12) in health career promotion, providing health career fairs and camps, assisting with health profession students to gain education experiences in underserved communities, and working with local health career providers to assure continuing education is available.
The SE-AHEC board of directors comprises a wide cross-section of community members from across the 17-county area.
Officers include: board chairman, Dale Gruntorad, executive director of Lincoln Medical Education Partnership; vice chairman, Marty Fattig, CEO of Nemaha County Hospital in Auburn; treasurer, Dennis Headrick, director, Southeast Community College, Beatrice campus; secretary, Eileen Krumbach, UNL Extension in York County, York.
Other members are listed alphabetically by hometown:
Auburn: Kay Oestmann, Southeast District Health Department
Beatrice: Richard Hovendick, Griffiths-Hovendick Chapel
Crete: E.J. Shoemaker, Public Health Solution; Susan Chrastil, Crete Area Medical Center
Falls City: Gene Bradley, Community Medical Center
Lincoln: Carol Andringa, Lincoln Public Schools
Milligan: Sherrie Geier, Senator Combs’ Office-District 32
Omaha: Roxanna Jokela, Rural Health Education Network/Nebraska AHEC Program Office
Weeping Water: Mary Ann Holland, Cass County Cooperative Extension
York: Vicki Duey, Four Corners Health Department
The SE-AHEC is located on the campus of the Southeast Community Campus in Beatrice. The address is 5109 W. Scott Road, #A211, in the One Stop Community Building (Adams Hall).