Ashtabula, Columbiana, Mahoning and Trumbull counties are included

Staff report

WASHINGTON

Ohio has received federal funds to ensure that health care education is available in rural areas in 67 counties, including Ashtabula, Columbiana, Mahoning and Trumbull.

United States Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, in announcing the $813,000 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services grant Wednesday, said the money will maintain and enhance the health profession’s education network affiliated with the University of Toledo College of Medicine’s Bryan Area Health Education Center.

Part of the funds, which will be distributed between now and in August 2014, will go to the Eastern Ohio Metro AHEC, which includes Ashtabula, Columbiana, Mahoning and Trumbull counties, Brown said.

The grant will enable the Ohio AHEC to maintain and enhance the network that links health-profession training programs and community partners in rural and under-served communities, Brown said.

The Ohio AHEC, a project spearheaded at the University of Toledo, is affiliated with three other Ohio medical schools: Northeast Ohio Medical University, Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine and the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine.

The goal of the project is to improve the medical-education pipeline from middle-school students to medical residents through community-based student education, health-careers promotion, and enhanced professional education.