Nebraska

Central Nebraska Area Health Education Center Inc. Grand Island, Nebraska

Central Community College, Grand Island Campus
University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha
Leader : Sarah C. Cunningham, PhD
Saint Francis Medical Center
Mary Lanning Memorial Hospital, Hastings
Columbus Community Hospital
Approach

University Partner Profile

Medical Interpreting Program at Health Careers
Central Community College, Grand Island Campus
Central Community College suppports planning and implementation of Medical Interpreting certification program, including it within their Health career options.

Rural Health Education Network (RHEN)
University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha
Collaborate with the production and completion of educational/orientation DVD and language specific DATA-BASE program

Leader : Sarah C. Cunningham, PhD

Central Nebraska Area Health Education Center, Inc
Sarah Cunningham is the Executive Director of the Central Nebraska Area Health Education Center (CN-AHEC) and Ppal investigator of the Hablamos Juntos Project; this relationship provides: leadership to bring educators, health care professionals, public health department personnel, and community leaders together in a 28 rural county area. This task is accomplished by determining the educational needs of and for health care providers, supporting the development of a health, science, and technology curriculum framework for K-12 students as well as recruiting minority students and nontraditional students into health care career paths. She has been responsible for the development and implementation of a distance learning network connecting Central Community College with over 50 locations across Nebraska. This included the development of instructional technologies that faculty can employ to reach students in remote areas and create virtual communities of learners. On a statewide basis, she has worked in the creation of policies and procedures that provide students the ability to receive coursework from a variety of institutions within their rural community. She believes the use of technological advances in rural communities will allow rural areas to remain a quality alternative place to live. Sarah Cunningham is a volunteer adjunct assistant professor in Family Medicine at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. She is a past president of the Nebraska Distance Learning Association and is a member of the Nebraska Information Technology Commission Telehealth Committee. She received her doctorate in Vocational and Adult Education from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with an emphasis in utilizing technology in instructional design techniques.

Health Partner Profile
Saint Francis Medical Center
Mary Lanning Memorial Hospital, Hastings
Columbus Community Hospital

The Health Partners Listed will broadly help us in the following ways:
a) Provide students for the interpreter's training program
b) Provide location for video-medical interpreters
c) Provide internship opportunities for interpreter's training participants

Approach

CNAHEC has set the folllowing aims for

July:
a) Begin video-medical interpreting services during evenings and weekends at partner hospitals
b) Complete first set of teaching modules for interpreter's training program
c) Finish and distribute Orientation Video among our partners

September:
a) Complete English linguistic competence assess
b) Begin first semester of formal interpreter's training at Central Community College