Welcome to the website of the Council for Allied Health in North Carolina (CAHNC). The CAHNC (Council) was founded in 1991 and represents more than 21,000 allied health professionals from 26 professional associations, six employer agencies and twelve educational institutions of higher learning.
The only organization of its kind in the United States, the Council provides not only the strength derived from numbers, but also an effective means of sharing and exchanging information including health care delivery, workforce demands, employment vacancy issues, staff retention and student recruitment. The Council serves as a forum where Allied Health Professional Associations, N.C. Area Health Education Centers (AHEC), Employers and Educational Institutions to include Community Colleges, the University of North Carolina System and private institutions come together to provide a unified voice for issues facing allied health professionals. In addition, the Council also provides a unique opportunity for allied health professionals, employers and educators to meet and address shortages, credentialing, accessing barriers to services in underserved populations and other critical issues. At the bi-monthly Council meetings, informed professionals also present on current topics of interest to allied health.
We have established, with the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research (SHEPS), a model database of supply and demand information on the allied health workforce in North Carolina. In 1994, the Council successfully implemented an initiative that resulted in the N.C. General Assembly funding the expansion of personnel preparation programs in Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy and Speech-Language Pathology. The Council further served as a catalyst to facilitate the advancement of school-based Speech-Language Pathologists toward Master's level preparation by way of distance education. The Council will continue to place emphasis on activities that will enhance increased funding opportunities for workforce studies, promote collaboration and partnerships, educate stakeholders on emerging issues and promote allied health.
We hope you will take time to read about the work the Council is doing and hope you will become as passionate about the Council’s work as we are. The Council’s mission is to ensure that North Carolinians will have access to a well-prepared and well-distributed allied health workforce that is representative of the diversity of our state’s communities.
We invite you to learn more about allied health and the many issues that face us as we seek to meet the current and future healthcare needs of the citizens of North Carolina. Please visit our site often, as we update information in order to provide you with the most current information. The Council meets in Chapel Hill, North Carolina bimonthly, on the first Wednesday, with videoconferencing to five other locations. All meetings are open to the public. Please join us!!
Dr. Stephen Thomas,
Council Chair
Alisa E Debnam, M.P.H.
Executive Director
