Department of Health Policy and Management wins award for sustainability in health care management

January 17, 2020

The Department of Health Policy and Management (HPM) at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health has been named a recipient of the Award for Sustainability in Healthcare Management Education and Practice by the Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education (CAHME) and Canon Solutions America.

CAHME is an accrediting body for academic programs that offer a professional master’s degree in healthcare management education. Every year, the organization partners with Canon to recognize educational institutions that strive to instill ideals of sustainability and social responsibility in future healthcare leaders. The Master of Healthcare Administration program at the Gillings School was one of the first CAHME accredited programs, and it has continually maintained CAHME accreditation.

The Award for Sustainability in Healthcare Management Education is given annually to educational institutions with programs that support the advancement of sustainability goals, with the understanding that education plays a critical role in creating sustainable, inclusive and socially responsible healthcare organizations. The Gillings School is one of two organizations to receive the award this year.

The department will be honored at the CAHME annual awards luncheon on Mar. 22 in Chicago, IL and will be acknowledged in the January 2020 edition of Modern Healthcare. It will also receive a grant to further promote sustainability in healthcare education.

Dr. Paula Song

“We are especially grateful to our students, who really encouraged us as a program to think about how we could play a role in being more environmentally and culturally sustainable,” said Paula Song, PhD, health policy and management residential masters program director. “Being recognized by CAHME and Canon for our efforts to-date is not only a great honor but will help support our continued efforts in this area.”

In keeping with the Gillings School’s commitment to sustainability ideals, leadership in the Health Policy and Management program has developed goals to reduce the use of plastic bottles at all HPM events and activities, consider the environmental impact of all event planning activities and promote a culture of environmentally sustainable practices within the program and department. HPM’s orientation was recently revamped to reflect these goals. Leadership has also incorporated training and curriculum on cultural competency, inclusive excellence and community involvement in courses, extracurricular events and alumni engagement opportunities.

The grant will be used to continue efforts to integrate a culture of sustainability into the HPM program.

Contact the Gillings School of Global Public Health communications team at sphcomm@unc.edu.