Pottawatomie County

Pottawatomie County is served by the East Office of KU Medical Center's Area Health Education Centers (AHECs) in Pittsburg, which provides quality professional education for health care providers and serves the eastern part of the state through health screenings, presentations and clinics.

Enhancing Student Education

• 10 students from Pottawatomie County are currently studying at KU Medical Center
• Pottawatomie County is part of the Eastern Medical Education Network with Robert Haskins, MD, a resident of Pittsburg, serving as the Medical Education Director. The medical education director helps coordinate the School of Medicine's efforts to mentor, train and place physicians throughout Kansas.

Strengthening the Health Care Workforce

• 39 KU Medical Center graduates live and/or practice in Pottawatomie County
• 5 Pottawatomie County physicians received funding through the Kansas Bridging Plan, a loan-forgiveness program offered to primary care residents who agree to practice in rural Kansas since 1991.
• 28 health care professionals from Pottawatomie County participated in continuing education courses and conferences from July 2010 to June 2011.

Researching to Improve Health

• Hospitalization has been identified as a teachable moment in which patients may be more likely to quit smoking. Pottawatomie County is one 27 counties in Kansas to participate in Kan Quit II, an innovative research intervention that provides smoking cessation counseling, treatment and case management services to evaluate the effectiveness of the smoking cessation services. The project is led by Edward Ellerbeck, MD, MPH, and is sponsored by the National Cancer Institute and the National Institutes of Health.
• Occupational therapists at KU Medical Center provide professional support and development for Kansas' Infant-Toddler Services. Working in every county, KUMC professionals evaluate effectiveness of early intervention services provided to families. Principal investigators Winnie Dunn, PhD, OTR, FAOTA, and Ellen Pope, Med, OTR, facilitate this ongoing project with the Kansas Department of Health & Environment.

Advancing Health Care Access

• 6 visits with Pottawatomie County residents by KU Medical Center health care providers via telemedicine, an interactive video technology that connects providers and patients when distance separates the two, in 2011. To learn more about KU Medical Center's telemedicine services, click here.