Department of Health and Human Services Established Third Generation of National Centers of Excellence in Women's Health

OWH Home > Multidisciplinary Health Models for Women > National Centers of Excellence in Women's Health > News > Department of Health and Human Services Established Third Generation of National Centers of Excellence in Women's Health

The Department of Health and Human Services has announced the establishment of six new National Centers of Excellence in Women's Health, the third generation of model centers that will provide integrated and comprehensive women's health services to women across the country.

The Office on Women's Health in the Department of Health and Human Services has awarded $1 million for the development of six centers focusing on health care for minority women. The National Centers of Excellence will be located at Harvard University in Boston, Tulane/Xavier University in New Orleans, University of Illinois at Chicago, University of Puerto Rico in San Juan, University of Washington, Seattle, and University of Wisconsin at Madison.

"These new Centers of Excellence provide innovative, community-based solutions for women seeking the finest comprehensive health care," said HHS Secretary Donna E. Shalala. "They are part of our continuing commitment to improve health services for women across the nation, and will broaden the number of academic institutions actively engaged in women's health research programs."

Located at academic institutions, the centers will serve as "one-stop shopping" models targeted to the unique health care needs of women. The National Centers of Excellence will provide the following:

• An integrated "one-stop shopping" model for the delivery of clinical health care services to women with an emphasis on prevention and early detection;

• A multi-disciplinary research agenda on women's health issues, fostering collaborations across academic departments and promoting strategies to encourage women to participate in clinical research trials;

• Coordination and linkage between clinical services in academic centers and surrounding communities;

• Educational programs and materials for the general public and health care professionals on women's health, using cutting edge technologies and tele-medicine approaches;

• The integration of a women's health focus into medical school curriculum;

• A "Women in Academic Medicine Leadership Plan" to foster the recruitment, retention, and promotion of women in academic careers;

• Networking within the community to form alliances with business groups, consumer groups, scientific organizations and public policy leaders; and

• An evaluation plan to assess project outcomes and effectiveness.

"This newest generation of centers will broaden the reach of this already successful program," said Wanda Jones, Dr. P.H., director of the Office of Women's Health. "Not only are we able to provide nationwide examples of excellence in integrated women's health care, we are now able to provide models that address the special health concerns of women in ethnically, racially and culturally diverse communities."

This announcement brings to 18, the total number of centers being supported by the Office of Women's Health.

In October 1996, the Office of Women's Health established the first six vanguard model Centers: Allegheny University of the Health Sciences in Philadelphia, Pa., Magee-Womens Hospital in Pittsburgh, Pa., Ohio State University Medical Center in Columbus, Ohio, the University of California at San Francisco, the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pa., and Yale University in New Haven, Conn.

The second generation of Centers of Excellence, established in October 1997, include: Boston University Medical Campus, Indiana University Medical Center, the University of California at Los Angeles, the University of Maryland at Baltimore, the University of Michigan Medical Center, and Wake Forest University/Bowman Gray School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, N.C.

The Office on Women's Health in the Department of Health and Human Services provides national leadership in advancing women's health in public policy, research, service delivery and education. The office serves as a catalyst for developing national and regional initiatives to improve women's health.

Note: HHS press releases are available on the World Wide Web at: http://www.hhs.gov.

Current as of October 1998