CANTON – The Aultman Health System and Northeast Ohio Medical University are advancing their longstanding partnership to develop the health care workforce and better provide for the communities they serve.
The Canton-based health care system has worked with NEOMED since the university’s founding in 1973 but announced an expanded, formal partnership this month. It involves regular meetings between leadership at both institutions, collaborative research, and a push to increase the number of students training alongside Aultman professionals.
“Ultimately our goal here, working together, is to provide comprehensive, high-quality and improving health care for the region through an education partnership that focuses on training future workforce and advancing health care through research and innovation,” NEOMED President John Langell said.
The university, which is in Rootstown in neighboring Portage County, welcomed 211 incoming students to the College of Medicine this year — the largest class in NEOMED’s history. About 120 NEOMED students complete their clinical rotations at Aultman each year with the top specialties being obstetrics and gynecology, surgery, family medicine and internal medicine.
Langell said the Aultman Health System is one of the university’s largest partners where graduates frequently complete their residency or find employment. Since he was appointed president in 2019, he has dedicated more attention to strengthening that partnership.
Langell initially met every two months with Aultman’s President and CEO Robert Mullen. Now a team of leaders meet at least once a month to discuss the impact and future of ongoing efforts.
NEOMED also works with Summa Health, University Hospitals, Akron Children’s and the Cleveland Clinic. Aultman’s community and rural presence, however, make it particularly appealing.
“We have a significant shortage of health care providers in the state of Ohio, and that shortage is even greater in certain specialty areas, like family medicine and pediatrics, and it’s especially prominent in places like rural Ohio,” Langell said.
Aultman is a nonprofit organization that operates hospitals in Canton, Alliance and Orrville, as well as a small college and AultCare health insurance.
Steven Kelly, the president of Aultman Hospital and chief medical officer of the health system, said Aultman’s goal is to strengthen the area’s potential workforce by interacting with medical students earlier in their education. He recognized the university’s expanded scope in recent years, which includes the 2025 opening of a dental college and a new certified mental health assistant master’s degree.
“I think with our community-based delivery of health care and our rural health clinics, we really have a unique opportunity to educate students in that space,” he added.
Aultman has clinical affiliations with other area schools but no partnership comparable to the one with NEOMED, Kelly said. They’re working to build a partnership model that will continue for at least five years.
“We would like to develop our physician workforce here to be the next generation of educators for NEOMED,” he said.
Some health system staff are educators at the university. Increased faculty and staff training and research opportunities are part of the collaboration.
Langell said the university has programs to help physician or clinician educators with medical research and to help administrators or clinicians apply operational excellence principals. Medical students also will work with physicians, using health system data, to improve health care delivery.
Reach Kelly at 330-580-8323 or kelly.byer@cantonrep.com.
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Aultman, NEOMED strengthen education and workforce partnership
Reporting by Kelly Byer, Canton Repository / The Repository
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Kelly Byer, Canton Repository | USA TODAY Network
