Health Care

Health care has become a central focus of the metropolitan conversation. The mobilizing of scientific, technological, social, economic and political resources to create and maintain healthy citizens is increasingly seen to be vital to a stable and productive society. The university has selected that challenge as a focused part of its institutional mission.

The Springfield metropolitan setting is fortuitous for such a focus. The city has two of the five largest hospital systems in the state. These two institutions serve more than 1.5 million people. Medical technology available in the community is equivalent to anything available elsewhere in Missouri. Skilled practitioners in all the specialties are located here. The context clearly supports and requires a focused effort in health care education. SMSU must be the unit which coordinates the state's efforts in health care education in this market if it is to be done efficiently and effectively.

The context also enables collaboration, a key component in providing efficient production of well trained health professionals. The university already has a collaborative relationship with the two major hospital systems in Springfield in preparing a variety of health care workers. With a growing emphasis on cost containment, this collaboration will increasingly focus on creating "physician extenders" -- persons expertly trained to work within specialized competency areas under the supervision of physicians. Nurse practitioners, physician assistants, physical therapists, and speech and hearing therapists all illustrate this concept. This understanding emphasizes the expansion of graduate programs where the requisite expertise can be developed in rigorous classroom instruction combined with sound clinical experience. The metropolitan context enables that combination.

The university brings an array of disciplines to bear on its health care focus. There is a growing understanding that health is affected by an interplay of physical, psychological and social forces. To that understanding, the university brings strong faculties in the natural and social sciences as well as in applied areas, including communication sciences and disorders, social work, gerontology, nursing, sports medicine/athletic training, medical technology, radiography, dietetics, respiratory therapy and therapeutic recreation. It also sees a growing emphasis upon wellness programs which seek to preserve and build health rather than to recover it after loss.

Delivering health care in a complex, stratified society continues to challenge our best thinking. Issues of justice and equity call for creative thinking in developing allocative systems for health care. The constructive convergence of the public affairs and health care themes in the metropolitan conversation are illustrated in this policy issue. Health care can be approached in a holistic manner on a campus where public policy and health issues can freely interact.

Health care is also understood to be an issue in the public schools where health problems significantly interfere with learning. The opportunity to develop site-based health programs in schools and to develop certified teachers with additional credentials in health care disciplines illustrates again the fortuitous convergence of two university themes -- teacher education and health care. The opportunity for groundbreaking work is again highlighted by the interaction of two primary emphasis areas in the university's mission.

The demand for a broad range of health care professionals will increase in southwest Missouri. The increasing numbers of elderly residents and the influx of retirement age citizens, a burgeoning entertainment industry, and a sound economic base have contributed to the area growth rate -- now among the highest in the state. The university accepts the challenge to provide a high-quality health education program to this metropolitan community.

Assets to support the health care theme

• SMSU has well-developed undergraduate health programs in nursing, social work, allied health disciplines (radiologic technology, medical technology), gerontology, public health and sports medicine, communication sciences and disorders, dietetics, health education, wellness, and therapeutic recreation.
• The university has rigorous, quality programs in the basic sciences, which are essential to support the health care theme.
• SMSU has strong graduate programs in communication sciences and disorders, and guidance and counseling.
• Active continuing health professional education programs, that include national certifications, are available through the Office of Continuing Education. For example, the Office of Continuing Education is an approved continuing education provider for the Missouri Board of Nursing Home Administration, the American Nurse Credentialing Board, the Missouri Substance Abuse Counselors Certification Board, the National Board of Certified Counselors, the National Association of Activity Professionals, and an approved site for nursing exam preparation. Active continuing education partnerships have been developed with St. John's Regional Health Center, Cox Medical Centers, Hospice of Southwest Missouri, Lakes Country Rehabilitation, the Missouri Association of Rehabilitation Facilities, and many other health agencies and organizations. Certificate programs are provided for dietary managers, dietitian assistants, nursing home administrators, and victim service providers.
• Collaboration with other educational institutions is another asset.
• Community advisory committees are in place for several of SMSU's health-related programs.
• Partnerships have been established with the medical and allied health community, including contractual or collaborative agreements with area health centers as clinical and internship resources: Cox South -- Child Care Center (affiliation), Cox South -- Child Life Program (affiliation), the Drug and Alcohol Abuse Prevention Program, the Environmental Health and Safety Office, the Exercise Science Laboratory, First Steps -- Missouri Department of Health (affiliation), First Steps -- Missouri Department of Mental Health (affiliation), Hearing Impaired Preschool Services of Southwest Missouri, Lakeland Regional Hospital (affiliation), the Learning Connection, the Learning Diagnostic Clinic, the Lifetime Sports Academy (a two-week day camp for children ages 8-12), the Missouri Division of Family Services (affiliation), the Nursing Clinic at the Southwest Missouri Aging Center, the Parenting Life Skills Center, the Perceptual-Motor Learning Lab and Program, the Southwest Missouri Cleft Support Group, the Springfield-Greene County Health Department (affiliation), the Veterans Administration (affiliation), the Vocational Rehabilitation (affiliation), the Midwest Sports Medicine Clinic, the Ozarks Sports Medicine Workshop, and St. John's Regional Center (affiliations) -- Cancer Camp, Child Care Center, Child Life Program.
• SMSU has received specialized national accreditations and/or approvals of programs in athletic training/sports medicine, dietetics, hearing impaired, nursing, speech language pathology, and social work.