WNY Rural Area Health Education Center, Inc (R-AHEC)

Western New York Rural Area Health Education, Inc. (R-AHEC)’s mission is “to improve health and healthcare through education.” Our values are community, integrity, teamwork and innovative. Our vision is to enrich the health of individuals and communities we have the privilege to serve, by building collaborative relationships and being a valued educational resource that implements innovative programs with passion and integrity. 

R-AHEC began operations in 1999 as a non-profit independent facilitation resource that serves as a networking hub to a predominately rural 12-county region, headquartered in Warsaw, New York.  Counties include Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, Ontario, Orleans, Steuben, Wayne, Wyoming, and Yates, which covers 9,141 square miles. R-AHEC addresses the health needs of its rural and underserved communities by focusing on: Health Workforce Development; Student Housing; Pipeline Programming for Youth; Health Information Technology, and Community Health Education.

R-AHEC has fostered strategic partnerships with academic programs, communities, and professional organizations. R-AHEC is recognized as a neutral, regional facilitation resource capable of successful implementation of local, state and federal workforce and education grants with a wide variety of local and regional healthcare organizations, school and community partners.