Fairfax, Va.-based George Mason University opened on Oct. 18 the College of Health and Human Services' Population Health Center to promote innovation in research and clinical care.
The center will host high-tech facilities for telehealth, research and clinical care, and facilitate partnerships between the university and its surrounding community. The university's 10th Mason and Partners free clinic, the Kaiser Permanente Community Wellness Hub and the Claude Moore Scholars program, supporting students pursuing higher education health career paths, will also be housed within the innovation center.
Among the first initiatives launched at the Population Health Center are projects to use social determinants of health to guide integrated primary care, to combine EHR data with telehealth and mobile health technology to improve care delivery and to design a better model for training the healthcare workforce.
"The Population Health Center is a hub where researchers, faculty, students, care providers and community partners come together to develop innovative approaches to research, interprofessional care and professional development to improve public health. Experiential learning opportunities are available for all involved, with the goal of moving the needle on the health of the populations we serve," said Germaine Louis, PhD, dean of the College of Health and Human Services.