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About the MHSA Program

The Master of Health Services Administration (MHSA) program at the University of Kansas Medical Center prepares individuals to work in a wide variety of professional settings, employing their leadership skills and knowledge of health policy and management to improve health and health services delivery in the communities they serve.  Our program is:

  • Fully accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education (CAHME).
  • Consistently ranked among the top health administration programs in U.S. public universities by U.S. News and World Report.
  • The most affordable in-state tuition for a traditional health administration master program in the Midwest region. 
  • Flexible, offering part- and full-time options as well as several joint- and dual-degree options. Our classes are held in the late afternoons and evenings to accommodate working professionals.
  • Proven. Our graduates are fully prepared for work in a broad spectrum of administrative roles.  Students benefit from regular interaction with and mentorship from our talented and accomplished alumni.

Program Leadership

Joanna Brooks portrait
Joanna Brooks, MBE, Ph.D.
Program Director
Associate Professor, Population Health

Welcome--we are so excited you are exploring our CAHME accredited MHSA program! Our program offers students an incredible hands-on  experience learning from experts and practitioners across healthcare. Uniquely situated at the University of Kansas Medical Center, our program gives students valuable exposure to various facets of healthcare and prepares you to lead interdisciplinary teams. Graduates of our program practice all over the country and internationally. You'll be joining an engaged community of lifelong learners and benefit from connections with our robust alumni network.


Ashley Counts portrait
Ashley Counts, DHEd, MHA, CHES
Assistant Program Director
Education Assistant Professor, Population Health

We are glad you are considering continuing your educational and professional growth with the University of Kansas Medical Center! Our small class sizes, experienced and dedicated faculty, and broad experience base offer a supportive learning environment. Our thoughtfully crafted, immersive curriculum offers students real-world experience to augment classroom learning, and robust mentorship and advising will ensure you have the skills you need to excel whatever professional path you pursue.

Values, history

Vision

The University of Kansas Master of Health Services Administration Program aspires to lead the nation as the pre-eminent program for preparing health administration professionals who will improve health and health services.

Mission

The University of Kansas Master of Health Services Administration Program improves lives and communities in Kansas and beyond by preparing students to be outstanding health administration professionals and future leaders in the health care sector. To accomplish this mission, the program:

  • Recruits students with diverse backgrounds and perspectives, along with the ability to succeed
  • Hires, values and respects faculty with varied backgrounds, who are committed to excellence in teaching, scholarship and service
  • Designs and develops a competency-based curriculum that stresses lifelong learning
  • Emphasizes interprofessional education through collaboration with learners and practitioners from multiple disciplines
  • Stresses the practical application of knowledge
  • Enables graduates to be competitive in the marketplace

Values Statement

To further the mission of our department and to advance our commitment to life-long learning, both within and outside the classroom, we espouse the following core values.

Respect:
We welcome and embrace the diverse cultures, experiences, expertise and points of view that enrich the KUMC community and the MHSA program.

Integrity:
We act in an ethical, honest, trustworthy and accountable manner.

Professionalism:
We maintain high standards for our community, vocational, and educational organizations; serving as faithful ambassadors for each.

Excellence:
We advance the quality of health care and education; we work collaboratively to achieve our individual and collective potential; we respect the educational process, the free exchange of ideas, and confidential information.

Service:
We recognize that we are a part of a health-focused profession; we respond with compassion to the needs of individuals and communities.

Vision:
We anticipate and meet constantly changing needs; we guide the transformation of health care.

The Master's degree in Health Services Administration began in 1979 when the Kansas Legislature, recognizing a need for professional leadership in health services, appropriated $200,000 for the University of Kansas to create the program. Then Vice-Chancellor Deanell Tacha asked Professor Ray Davis to be the founding chair of the Department of Health Services Administration and to undertake the development of the MHSA degree program within that Department. Davis hired two established health services researchers and national experts in the academic health services administration field, Barbara McCool and Montague Brown, as consultants for conceptualizing the program and curriculum.

The program officially began in 1982 with three students and three faculty members, Mary Zimmerman, Joe Harkins, and Ray Davis. However, soon after being hired, Harkins was asked to serve as the Secretary of the Kansas State Department of Health and Environment, so while he agreed to teach a course in the new program, the program essentially began with only two regular full-time faculty members as well as a number of adjunct and part-time instructors, including Harkins, McCool, Brown and Robert McLean, a health economist from the School of Business. The Department of Health Services Administration was not organizationally located in a School but, in the initial years, reported directly to Vice-Chancellor Tacha. The program's offices were in the Watkins Home building on the Lawrence campus.

At the end of the 1980s, the KU administration required that the Department find a School in which to locate. In 1990, the Department became part the School of Pharmacy and was located on the top floor of Malott Hall. From 1982 to 1999 classes were offered in Topeka, Lawrence and Overland Park, although the Department's administrative center remained in Lawrence. In 1993, KU built the Edwards Campus in Overland Park and the Department agreed to teach the majority of its classes on the Edwards Campus. The Department remained in the School of Pharmacy and kept its administrative offices in Lawrence until 1999.  In 1999, the Department became part of the KU School of Medicine and moved its offices to the Medical Center campus in Kansas City, Kansas. At that time it also changed its name to the Department of Health Policy and Management. By 2000 all classes were offered on the Medical Center campus.

Two additional programs were added to the Department of Health Policy & Management. In 2005, the Department began the Community Health Center Executive Fellowship (CHCEF), a professional development program for mid and upper-level managers of Federally Qualified Health Centers and Look-Alikes. In 2009, a Ph.D. in Health Services Research was added to the Department. As of July 1, 2019 the Department of Health Policy and Management and the Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health merged to become the new Department of Population Health.

The MHSA program is strong. It has been continuously and fully accredited since 1989, at first by the Accrediting Commission on Education for Health Services Administration (ACEHSA) and then by ACEHSA's successor, the Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education (CAHME). We are currently the only accredited MHSA program in Kansas and in the Kansas City Region. The faculty are a talented and diverse group featuring both practical experience and scholarly excellence. We are proud of our ability to provide students with real-world experience and experiential learning. Like our faculty, our student body is diverse in both worldview and experience. We have a strong cadre of alumni, including scores of hospital CEO's and vice-presidents

Aerial photo of KUMC Kansas City campus

Contact Us

Questions about the Masters of Health Services Administration Program?
Contact Us
School of Medicine

University of Kansas Medical Center
Population Health
Mail Stop 1008
3901 Rainbow Boulevard
Kansas City, KS 66160
913-588-2775
Fax: 913-588-2780