The University of Kentucky’s Master of Health Administration program has moved to the College of Public Health, effective July 1, 2010. Guided by the Department of Health Services Management (HSM), the program reflects a 20-year history from its founding by the late James Suver, Ph.D. through a decade of stewardship by the Martin School of Public Policy and Administration. The 12 core faculty members in the program’s new departmental home hold terminal degrees in medicine, nursing, health services research, health administration, public health, law, economics, and political science. In addition to the MHA, the department offers a concentration in the college’s MPH program and the professional public health doctorate(DrPH) in health services management. Julia F. Costich, JD, PhD, serves as both department chair and MHA program director.
HSM faculty members have achieved significant recognition for their research and service in recent months. F. Douglas Scutchfield, MD, was recently named director of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s newly designated Coordinating Center for Public Health Systems and Services Research, acknowledging his leadership in the development of this growing field. Martha C. Riddell, DrPH, Carol L. Ireson, MSN, PhD, and Andrew O. Johnson, PhD, are key members of the university’s Health Information Technology Regional Extension Center initiative, funded by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. Lawrence D. Prybil, PhD, is leading a national study of corporate governance at a dozen leading health systems. James W. Holsinger, MD, PhD, former Chancellor of the University of Kentucky Medical Center and Secretary of the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services, directs the college’s doctoral programs. Torrie Harris, DrPH, is director of the state’s Office of Minority Health and Health Equity. Sarah B. Wackerbarth, PhD, spent the past year as a visiting scholar at the University of Wisconsin’s Comprehensive Health Enhancement Support Systems Center. Ray Hill, DrPH, is a senior Fulbright scholar for the 2010-2011 academic year, developing public health education in Ukraine.
The HSM faculty, in consultation with a multidisciplinary advisory committee, alumni, and other stakeholders, are engaged in reviewing the MHA curriculum and making modifications to strengthen course content and enhance linkages with other academic units and UK Healthcare, the university’s clinical enterprise. Current enrollment in the MHA program includes 51 full-time and part-time students.