Editor’s note: This is the first in a series of stories about AHEC West’s 50th anniversary.
CUMBERLAND — AHEC West has long played a diversely prevalent role in Western Maryland, and is now celebrating its 50th anniversary.
Many community members know AHEC West primarily for its community rehabilitation work, but the organization began as a county initiative to address gaps in healthcare services across the region.
“AHEC truly cares about the employees and the people that we serve in the community,” said Jackie Booth, AHEC West’s administrative specialist. “The loyalty that the staff has for the community to help provide services to those in need and seeing the compassion that my coworkers have to help others is very inspiring.”
Booth, who has been with AHEC for 28 years, said the focus of programs have changed in order to stay relevant to the needs of the community.
AHEC West originally was created to support healthcare training initiatives for students in rural areas where resources were limited.
As time went on, the organization adapted.
“So often communities and organizations will turn a blind eye to those in need and to our most vulnerable populations,” Booth said.
“Where AHEC continues to strive and go out of their way at times to find them help, whether it’s food, housing, prescription, et cetera. Helping those less fortunate is what our organization has always been about, and I’m very proud to be a part of it.”
Expanding upon healthcare education, AHEC began to support broad growth within the organization, moving from a primarily education focus to collaborations with schools, hospitals and community organizations.
Tina Rohrbaugh, AHEC West’s finance director, has been with the organization for about 21 years.
“When I started, we had a $525,000 operating budget for the fiscal year, and now we’re up to this past fiscal year, we had a $3.6 million operating budget,” Rohrbaugh said. “There was a lot of new funding.”
The organization continues its work in healthcare education, but has further expanded to support behavioral health and substance abuse programming through specific initiatives and development of Recovery Community Centers such as The Possibility Shop.
“When I had started, we had significant funding cuts. We went from having 16 employees to I think the lowest amount was nine employees,” Rohrbaugh said. “Currently, we have 36, and with some new funding, we’re guessing that we may be up to 50 employees by the end of next fiscal year.”
With enhanced programming and funding, AHEC West continues to grow.
“Seeing just how much the organization truly cares about the people that we serve is very rewarding in itself,” Booth said. “I feel that the staff really cares about each other. We’re kind of like a family.”