Rural Health Network Development Planning Grant Program - Name: Juniata College, 1700 Moore Street, Huntingdon, PA 16652 Entity Type: Private Institution of Higher Education Website: https://www.juniata.edu/ Proposed Service Region: Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania Network Name: Central PA Rural Health Collaborative Legislative Aim #1: Achieve Efficiencies Focus areas: Healthcare access and workforce development Funding Preference: Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) Project Abstract: Juniata College, located in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, qualifies for funding preference number one, Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA). The college is located in an HPSA for Mental Health and Dental Health Professionals. Juniata proposes to establish a Rural Health Collaborative Network with the goal of addressing the social determinants of health. By taking a place-based and systems-thinking approach, the Network will collaborate to understand the specific health related needs and issues of the community, including the role of workforce development gaps in both exacerbating staffing shortages in the healthcare sector and leading to economic instability for residents. These factors combined with an aging population and the departure of educated working-age residents, referred to as “brain drain,” intensify the needs. The initial network participants include Juniata College, Broad Top Area Medical Center Inc. (FQHC), Mainstream Counseling, and the Central Pennsylvania Clinic, with the goal of expanding membership in the network to include more cross-sector partners as a key aspect of the planning outcomes. The proposed service area for the Rural Health Collaborative is rural Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania and a segment of neighboring Mifflin County due to the proximity with a specific population. Huntingdon County’s population is predominantly White, aging, and impoverished, and includes members of the special and vulnerable population known as the Plain community (Amish and Mennonite). The second highest population of Amish in the state resides in the area of Big Valley/Belleville, which is geographically located along the northeast border of Huntingdon County, overlapping with Mifflin County. Furthermore, according to the United Way of Pennsylvania, in the year 2022, 47% of households in Huntingdon County were considered impoverished or Asset Limited Income Constrained, Employed (ALICE) households. Those households do not have the ability to afford or access consistent quality healthcare. This lack of access disproportionately affects the County’s low-income population, which represents 11% of the population according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The 2024 Penn Highlands Community Health Needs Assessment reported that Huntingdon County has only one primary care provider for every 3,130 people. There are several barriers to medical care within the county, with a lack of healthcare providers being one of the most prominent. Without addressing the healthcare-related workforce development issues as a social determinant of health, Huntingdon County is at risk of further becoming a healthcare desert. In addition to strengthening the connections and relationships across the health network, the Rural Health Collaborative Network plans to target Legislative Aim #1: Achieve Efficiencies, with a focus area of Huntingdon County’s healthcare workforce and access needs. The purpose of the Rural Health Collaborative Network is to strengthen communication between Juniata College and health care providers in and around Huntingdon County in order to 1) share knowledge and expertise, 2) find and consolidate data resources, 3) identify an effective health needs assessment model, and 4) develop a method to better understand workforce training and development needs and whether they could be addressed by a workforce education and training center.
