Colorado Plateau Center for Health Professions is creating healthier communities in northern Arizona by building, training, and strengthening the health workforce.
From the Director
There’s a lot to love about living in Arizona. Those of us lucky enough to call it home know that its natural beauty and frontier landscape is unmatched anywhere in the country. But living in a frontier brings with it some unique challenges. When you live in rural or remote areas, you don’t always have access to the things that some may take for granted. Like seeing a doctor.
The truth is, a lot of families in northern Arizona experience poorer health outcomes, decreased life expectancy, and higher mortality rates than those who live in urban areas. Much of the reason for this is the shortage of primary care physicians and other essential healthcare personnel.
Colorado Plateau Center for Health Professions is here to help. Our programs support students every step of the way down their health career pathway, to create a conduit for recruiting and retaining healthcare throughout the region. More than three hundred health professions students are trained by Colorado Plateau every year, helping ensure future doctors, nurses, pharmacists and public health officials choose to work in northern Arizona’s underserved communities where they are needed most.
At Colorado Plateau, we don’t wait for medical professionals to choose our community. We grow them.
Mission & Purpose
The Colorado Plateau Center for Health Professions (CPCHP) exists to improve the health of rural and underserved communities in northern Arizona by building, training, and strengthening the health workforce.
Those who live or provide healthcare in northern Arizona are painfully aware of the current health workforce shortages, especially in rural and underserved locations.Â
At the Colorado Plateau, we know that there are two proven ways to fill this gap:
When we train students in the community, they’ll practice in the community. So that’s what we do.
The Colorado Plateau Center for Health Professions offers a career pathway from high school, through graduate studies, and into clinical practice in a diverse field of health professions in rural and underserved communities.Â
The Colorado Plateau has been serving northern Arizona since 1987 and is a member of the nationwide network of Area Health Education Centers, building the healthcare workforce across the country.
Our programs include:
We can't do it alone
Partnerships are central to this important work. The Colorado Plateau Center for Health Professions is part of Elk Ridge Community Health, a Teaching Health Center serving twelve communities in northern Arizona from the eastern to the western state lines. We are also one of the five Arizona Area Health Education Centers.
The Mission of Elk Ridge Community Health is to improve the health of northern Arizona communities through accessible, affordable, quality, and compassionate care. The Vision is to be a national leader in delivering excellent healthcare services that improve the lives of patients in the communities we serve.
The AzAHEC mission is to enhance access to quality health care, particularly primary and preventive care, by improving the supply and distribution of healthcare professionals via strategic partnerships with academic programs, communities, and professional organizations.