Norfolk State University, with Dr. Marie St. Rose serving as the Project Director, has received $5 million to establish a Master of Health Informatics degree program in the Department of Nursing and Allied Health. The cooperative agreement, in consortium with the Virginia Department of Health and the Hampton Roads Community Health Center, seeks to produce 100 underrepresented minority graduates by December 2024.
“The formation of a consortium with Virginia Department of Health and Hampton Roads Community Health Center will help to share best practices, pool resources, increase the exposure and credibility of the Master of Health Informatics as a signature program, as well as meeting mutual goals that are beneficial to Virginia’s local and state communities,” said Dr. St. Rose.
The degree program will address the health informatics needs of local and state public health organizations through key approaches:
· Consortium Development
· Curriculum Development
· Training
· Paid Internships
· Career Placement
· Community of Practice
· Sustainability
The program is part of a $73-million effort by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to train 4,000 people in public health informatics and technology. Health informatics utilizes information technology to improve healthcare outcomes.
The HHS Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) awarded the funds to 10 recipients that include Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic-Serving Institutions and Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions through the American Rescue Plan, which also has a goal of improving COVID-19 data collection.
Besides Norfolk State, the other recipients are Bowie State University; California State University, Long Beach Research Foundation; Dominican College of Blauvelt, Inc.; Jackson State University; Regents of the University of Minnesota; University of Texas Health Science Center; University of Massachusetts at Lowell; University of California, Irvine; and University of the District of Columbia.