The University of Providence (UP) and the Catholic Health Association of the United States (CHA) are excited to announce the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to highlight the Community Health Investment (CHI) Certificate Program offered at the university — the first of its kind in the country.
Healthcare trends in the United States have shifted in recent years from acute care to a more community-based approach. Understanding the need to adapt to the ever-shifting healthcare landscape, The University of Providence sought programming and curricula to meet that need.
UP’s Community Health Investment Certificate is a new 12-month, 16 credit, 100% online, master’s level academic program that explores health equity and enables students to address specific social drivers such as food insecurity, housing instability, transportation barriers, education, social isolation, and financial insecurity. Key themes of the CHI program include compassionate caring for those who are poor and vulnerable; advancing community health, equity, diversity and inclusion; and developing a pathway for equitable workforce development.
Additionally, the new CHI Certificate aligns with the shared mission of both organizations of serving caregivers and populations that are poor or vulnerable. Both entities will use this partnership to continue to develop the workforce’s needs of caregivers of population health and serving those who need it most.
Father Oliver Doyle, president of University of Providence stated, “Partnering with the Catholic Health Association provides the University of Providence with a unique opportunity to reach the nearly three quarters of a million caregivers and their families they represent across the nation. This partnership should not only help grow enrollment but also serve as a model for future strategic partnerships and collaborators.”
Sister Mary Haddad, RSM, president of CHA added, “As our knowledge of health and well-being evolve with a greater appreciation for the importance of prevention and population-based care, so must our approach to carry on the healing ministry of Jesus in new ways. This new online certificate program will create a cadre of caregivers passionate about preventing illness through systemic change. Looking upstream for root causes is embedded in the work done by the religious founders of Catholic health ministry, who often addressed the social needs of those in their care alongside their medical needs.”
The University of Providence strives to be a leader in the higher education and healthcare partnerships. From the first nursing program founded in 1936 in the Columbus Hospital that permitted nurses to obtain a Bachelor’s Degree to the recent announcement of a partnership with Salish Kootenai College to offer a pathway for primarily Native/Indigenous students to advance their nursing education, the University of Providence is committed to building a community of higher learning.
The University of Providence is a private, Roman Catholic University located in Great Falls, Montana offering both undergraduate and graduate level liberal arts programs and health programs. With a mission to provide educational opportunities to caregivers who wouldn’t otherwise have the opportunity, the University of Providence’s mission aligns with that of the Catholic Health Association.
Founded in 1915, the Catholic Health Association of the United States is the national leadership organization of the Catholic health ministry, representing the largest nonprofit provider of health care services in the nation. Catholic health care, which includes more than 2,200 hospitals, nursing homes, long-term care facilities, systems, sponsors and related organizations, serves the full continuum of health care across our nation. Together, 1 in 7 patients in the U.S. is cared for in a Catholic hospital each day.
