The Northeast Ohio Medical University (NEOMED) and Cleveland State University (CSU) Partnership for Urban Health has been selected to participate in the Urban Universities for HEALTH (Health Equity through Alignment, Leadership, and Transformation of the Healthcare Workforce) Learning Collaborative, a national academic initiative that aims to investigate approaches to improve the health of urban communities by developing their health care workforce.

A grant totaling more than $400,000 over a four-year period was awarded jointly to NEOMED and CSU in support of their partnership by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and administered through a collective effort between the Coalition of Urban Serving Universities and the Association of American Medical Colleges.

The Learning Collaborative is focused on systemic strategies, engaging top university and health professions leadership across disciplines. Four additional universities have been named to the Urban Universities for HEALTH Learning Collaborative, which will work to identify, exchange and disseminate information on approaches to health care workforce development that lead to improved health outcomes in local communities.

"This is another important step toward establishing the Partnership for Urban Health at Cleveland State," said CSU President Ronald Berkman. "I'm confident that this program will have long-lasting and profound effects throughout our community and beyond."

"We are pleased to be one of five institutions chosen to participate in this groundbreaking collaboration that rings true to what the NEOMED-CSU Partnership for Urban Health was developed to accomplish," Jay A. Gershen, D.D.S., Ph.D., president of NEOMED. "By being a part of the Learning Collaborative, we can further our research in establishing best practices that will drive the economy of innovation in the health care workforce across Northeast Ohio, and ultimately impact health equity in Cleveland's urban neighborhoods."

Through the Urban Universities for HEALTH Learning Collaborative, NEOMED and CSU will work with peer institutions to develop metrics and to test and share novel approaches of talent development with the aim of improving the health of urban underserved and minority populations. In addition, leaders at both universities are committed to integrating lessons learned into their institutional core, including strategic planning to broaden the diversity of the local workforce in order to improve quality and efficiency of health care. Perhaps most importantly, the Learning Collaborative will increase organizational capacity to inform policy and practice in an environment of increasingly tight budgets and accountability.

As part of NEOMED's Education for Service initiative, the NEOMED-CSU Partnership for Urban Health encourages economically disadvantaged youth from the Cleveland area to complete undergraduate coursework at CSU, enroll in the College of Medicine at NEOMED to earn a Doctor of Medicine degree and return after residency to serve medically underserved areas in the region. The NEOMED-CSU Partnership is recognized as the lead program for The Sullivan Alliance to Transform the Health Professions, a national organization devoted to improving health care education and increasing diversity in health professions.

About Northeast Ohio Medical University

Northeast Ohio Medical University is a community-based, public medical university with a mission to improve the quality of health care in Northeast Ohio working in collaboration with its educational and clinical partners. With a focus on scientific and medical research, and the interprofessional training of health professionals that is unique to the state of Ohio, the University offers a doctor of medicine (M.D.) and a doctor of pharmacy (Pharm.D.) degree, in addition to graduate-level coursework and research opportunities leading to master's and doctoral degrees in other medical areas. Northeast Ohio Medical University is a founding member of the Austen BioInnovation Institute in Akron. Visit www.neomed.edu.