About Us
The North Dakota Area Health Education Center (AHEC) promotes academic institutions and community agencies working together to engage in a comprehensive strategy to help eliminate the need for health care professionals in underserved areas, meet serious unmet health care needs in North Dakota, and correct the mal-distribution of health care providers in the state.
The Center for Rural Health at The University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences received federal AHEC funding on September 1, 2008. With this funding, the North Dakota AHEC was established. Today, the North Dakota AHEC consists of the AHEC Program Office in Grand Forks. In addition to the Program Office, there are two Regional AHEC Centers in North Dakota: the Eastern AHEC, in Mayville, and the Western AHEC, in Hettinger.
The AHEC program was developed by Congress in 1971 to recruit, train, and retain health professionals committed to underserved populations. The national program was designed with the objective of eliminating Health Professional Shortage Areas. The AHEC program was designed to encourage universities and educators to look beyond their institutions and partner with communities to promote cooperative solutions with local benefits.