Management Academy To Boost Training For Local, State Public Health D...( CHAPEL HILL - The University of North...),Health

CHAPEL HILL - The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will receive a $2.8 million grant to launch a management academy for public health professionals in four states that aims to improve how health departments nationwide serve citizens.

Officials from the university, the federal government and top health-related foundations today (March 15) announced plans for the Management Academy for Public Health, a first-of-its-kind project envisioned as a national model to address concerns public health officials have discussed for decades. The academy -- a joint effort of UNC-CH's School of Public Health and Kenan-Flagler Business School - will strengthen management skills of 600 senior- and mid-level managers in local and state public health departments across Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. Participants will study in Chapel Hill as well as in their home communities via distance learning and the Internet.

Grant funds over four years will come from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration in Rockville, Md., the W.K. Kellogg Foundation in Battle Creek, Mich. and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in Princeton, N.J. The CDC's foundation will manage the project.

"By enabling improvements in public health management, the academy is designed to have measurable and meaningful effects on public health organizations and the communities that they serve," said Dr. William L. Roper, dean of the School of Public Health.

UNC-CH was selected from a pool of leading research universities to direct the academy because of its unique combination of expertise in public health and business administration, officials said.

"We look forward to demonstrating across the Southeast how we can use lessons from the worlds of business and public health practice to better equip the people responsible for delivering public health services to our citizens," said Dr. Robert S. Sullivan
'"/>

Contact: Lisa Katz
lisa_katz@unc.edu
919-966-8498
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
15-Mar-1999