It was recently announced that the Minnesota Area Health Education Center, a program aligned with the Academic Health Center, will receive $3.4 million in federal funding to help develop the health care workforce and expand access to health care in traditionally underserved areas of Minnesota.

The MN AHEC was established in 2002 and partners with communities to identify their health profession needs. The MN AHEC is a collaborative effort between the University of Minnesota and the regional AHEC offices. However, the original concept for the AHEC began in 1970 as a national program to increase the pool of qualified individuals needed to fill the demands on the health sciences workforce. The U of M was an active participant in this federal program.

To learn more about the earlier work done by the AHEC in Minnesota read the following report from 1980 that details the changes in supply and distribution of health care workers in Minnesota from 1972-1980.