Garrett-Allegany Health Workforce Development Network: About Us

Make a positive impact on communities that desperately need you …. Enjoy life at a less hectic pace while within driving distance of three major US metropolitan areas.

The mission of the Garrett-Allegany Health Workforce Development Network (GAHWDN) is to design and implement solutions to address the health workforce needs of Maryland’s Appalachian Garrett and Allegany counties; its members envision an adequate health professional work force in the region.

Now in its third year, the Network's successes and ongoing activities include the following:

Developed and continues to facilitate an innovative clinical rotation in Garrett and Allegany counties required of all third-year medical residents in the University of Maryland School of Medicine (SOM) Department of Family and Community Medicine and offered to residents in other SOM departments;
Plans and facilitates weekend workshops for medical students and other primary care and public health students highlighting the region’s assets (including its outdoor fun!) and stressing ongoing needs;
Connects behavioral health counseling programs with internship opportunities in these under-served counties; and
Works together as a network to evaluate, improve, and increase program offerings and promote other primary care and public health opportunities in the region.

Currently funded by the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration’s Rural Health Workforce Network Development program, GAHWDN is working toward a sustainable, long-term strategy to continue its efforts to reduce or eliminate health professional shortages and health care access issues in Western Maryland.

For more information, contact GAHWDN Director Martha Bird at WMAHEC by email at mbird@wmahec.org or by phone at 301-777-9150, Ext. 110.

GAHWDN members and links to their Web sites are listed below.

GAHWDN Network Members: